Eastern Winds
by BloodT3ars
Summary: This story starts where the TV season 4 of True Blood more or less ended and it continues in the only possible way: venturing deeper into the abyss of His existence.
1. Chapter 1

This story starts where the TV season 4 of True Blood more or less ended and it continues in the only possible way: venturing deeper into the abyss of His existence.

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><p>Notes:<p>

The beginning... Being the major producers/inventors of the new blood there are powerful concerns of Japanese vampires that have an enormous control, covert and overt, over vampire matters throughout the world. Coming out of the coffin was no small thing and it had great social and economic repercussions for vampires. Therefore, there are powers behind the scenes that are more than interested in keeping the fragile coexistence with humans, which currently still serves to their obscure plans. When a vampire like Russell goes astray (and now he is even more enraged then the first time, which was bad publicity for the American vampire league already) his actions threaten to affect the matters on an international level. When these powerful concerns notice that the AVL cannot handle the situation, they have no choice but to send an envoy to set the matters straight. Because there is a very strong policy within vampire leagues that each league is almost completely independent and cannot interfere in the internal matters of another league, the envoy is authorized to advise only, but not to interfere, as this would represent a grave offence and consequently a scandal for US and Japanese vampire leagues. The envoy is made up of two curious people: an older man and a woman in her thirties. Their official task is a friendly visit to several vampire kings in the US - among them also the king of Louisiana but their real mission is...

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><p>1.<p>

Eric was sitting on the top of a small hill. The night was clear, with a ton of stars in the sky. The moon was almost full and its light made the surroundings visible. Eric could see a forest that spread almost from the base of the hill, leaving but a small meadow. It was a thick large forest, its endings hidden from Eric's sight. The small meadow in front gave the impression of a trap, set by the forest itself. Behind the hill were few lonely roads leading to various adjutant small towns. The hill itself was quite inside so even if somebody would drive at this time of night on the roads it would have been impossible to distinguish a person on the top. On Eric's left and right side the forest began to stretch upwards as if it tried cautiously to surround the hill.

Eric was alone. Not a soul around, only the forest before him, that looked almost as if it had some malevolent intent. This place of peaceful solitude was exactly what he was looking for.

He had to admit to himself, his usual state of mind, immovable for centuries now, was deeply disturbed by Sookie. Her indecisiveness regarding him and Bill was making him crazy. He approached her couple of times but each time she turned him away. Then she made him promise to respect her decision to be on her own for a while and not to make any advances. Against his whole being, he promised her he will not interfere anymore.

In fear, that one day the desire will be just too strong to control, he decided to avoid her. The tactics paid off well. With nights, then months passed, he started to feel apathy slowly coming over him. He spent most of his time, wandering around Fangtasia, ignoring everyone. He barely fed, regular blood only reminded him on how sweet Sookie's tasted. Pam tried to cheer him up, by bringing him new beauties, that in old days he would not hesitate a second to fuck and feed from them. Even Ivetta's advances to which any man would cede proved useless. He would just smile and walk away. It was not that he didn't feel the needs, it was just that they were so easily dismissed without the slightest regret, that he saw no point in it.

The only thing that somehow amused him was his state of mind. With time, he felt more and more torn between the comfortable apathy and strong desires for Sookie that were provoking him into some action, he knew he would never undertake... like the contrast between the peaceful beauty of the nature and its horrifying power hidden in the silent, impenetrable forest, which he was now observing from the top of the hill.

His thoughts drifted back to earlier this evening. Just as he settled with the agony of his contradictory feelings, she came to Fangtasia, with Bill, under the stupidest pretence. To warn him about Russel. To offer him protection.

He was in his office, when she and Bill entered.

Sookie:"Eric." She smiled and awkwardly kissed him on the cheek.

Bill: "Good evening, Eric."

Eric: "My king." He bowed with an obvious contempt. To his satisfaction, the gesture made Bill feel uneasy.

Then he turned to Sookie and nodded, keeping his eyes firmly on her. He could hardly stay calm. He heard rumors, that they were recently seen dining out together. And now they were here, together.

Eric: "To what I owe the pleasure of your visit?" His tone was ironic.

Sookie: "Eric, we came here to discuss a very serious matter. Its Russell. We heard rumors he might be in Louisiana. You know he is after all the three of us, but foremost after you. We have to do something about it, you need to think about protecting yourself."

Concern out of guilt, thought Eric. What a slap in the face to respond to one's complete love with worries for his wellbeing.

He kept looking at Sookie without any response. She felt the intensity of his stare on her. It made her feel uncomfortable. Eric noticed that and felt pleasure.

The awkward quietness was broken by Bill. "Eric, with Sookie..." Eric looked at him viciously, and Bill paused for a moment before he continued. "...with Sookie we thought that the safest way would be if we all come to stay at my mansion for a while. Its best protected and ..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Eric made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "You two had obviously made plans, and in the future I would really appreciate, if you do not include me in them."

Sookie: "Eric, Russell is coming to kill you." She looked at him, tears started to gather in her eyes: "I could not stand it if something happened to you."

He looked into her teary eyes and felt sickness coming over him. Her guilt...yes she loved him, but not in the way he hoped for. It was all too clear now. She made a decision. She still didn't want to admit it to herself, but her heart chose Bill. She was slowly but consistently drifting toward him. And now, they found a way to be together under the pretence of safety. She cared for his life, no doubt, but subconsciously, she was looking for his approval to move in with Bill.

How could he be so naive to believe that she would choose him over Bill. Bill could offer her protection, stability, respectful life, make her feel secure, he was the king of Louisiana after all. His love, on the other hand, was like a deep dark pool, mesmerizing and endless as well as scary and with no promise of what lies at the bottom. He was refusing to see the obvious for some time now.

His head felt heavy, he looked down and spoke softly: "Nothing will happen to me, but you have to go to Bill's."

Sookie: "No way, I won't go unless you come too."

Eric: "Sookie!" His voice had a harsher tone now. "You have to go to Bill. There is no other way. Russell will be looking for you as well, he knows how much you mean to me. If we are all in one place we'll just make it easier for him. You stay with Bill, meanwhile I'll try to find Russell first."

Sookie grabbed his hand. "No, not a chance Eric. It's madness, I won't let you face Russell alone."

_The touch of her hand..._

He turned to Bill: "How well is your mansion protected?"

Bill: "Its impenetrable, but one can never know with somebody like Russell. I still think it would be better if you come to stay with us."

Eric: "Sookie, could you leave us for a moment?"

Sookie: "What, no...no I won't. I won't let you two play machos on my behalf and in case you forgot, last time we put Russell away with my help! You cannot dismiss..."

"Sookie, get out! Paaam!" called Eric angrily.

Pam appeared in the office.

Eric: "Take her out!"

Pam: "It will be my pleasure."

Sookie, struggling with Pam cried out: "Eric please, listen to me, come with us, I beg you."

Eric kept quiet. Pam dragged her out of the office and closed the door.

Eric, fangs out, came closer to Bill in a menacing way. "I know why you want me there. You think of offering me to Russell in exchange to spare Sookie's life."

Bill, his fangs out too, replied with the same intensity: "I would do anything to protect her."

Eric: "You think I haven't consider it already? It's very naive to expect Russell will honor any promises, having both of you in front of his nose. You are playing with her life!"

Bill: "Its because of you that her life is in danger! Damn the day she met you!"

They looked at each other for few seconds with hate in their eyes, then Eric retracted the fangs and sat behind his desk. "I'll be able to protect her better from outside, seeking him out first or let him find me."

Bill: "Fine with me...its suicide, you know."

Eric: "Well then, if your theory is correct and I die first, Russell will have no reason to come after Sookie. Besides, I hear he has other plans apart from avenging his lover's death. Anyhow, it's the only way."

He added in a calm low voice: "As for you I don't really give a shit, but as long as you are alive, you better make sure nothing happens to her, or I'll take your crown together with your head."

Bill remained silent and nodded. He opened the door. Pam and Sookie were standing outside.

Sookie: "Have you talked some sense into him, Bill? Is he coming?"

Bill: "He made his own decision, Sookie, there is nothing I can do about it."

Sookie looked desperately at Eric. "Eric...please..."

"Come on Sookie, lets stop being so dramatic about it! Anyway, these are just rumors we heard. Russell might not show up at all in the end, and you still get to live in the king's chambers. Think how much fun will that be. I of course couldn't possibly have Bill as my landlord. It would never work out between us, I'm too... demanding," responded Eric cynically with cheerful voice.

Sookie: "Eric, please be serious..."

Eric: "I'm really honored by your visit, my king, and as always charmed by you, Sookie. Tomorrow we have an interesting contest in pole dancing and you are both most welcome to drop by, but now I'm in a bit of a hurry so if you could please excuse me... I have things to do."

"Certainly, lets go Sookie", said Bill taking her by the hand, eager to leave.

Eric looked away. "Sookie, you should not make the king wait."

Sookie was on the verge of crying. She turned around and stormed out of the office without a word.

Bill: "Fine then, I trust I can count on you." He waited for a second, but seeing Eric was ignoring him he left as well.

Eric felt like something was tearing him up inside. She was still so deep in him. Sadness slowly descended upon him, replacing the feelings of anger and jealousy.

Pam came in. "What was that all about? You are not serious right? I mean, you won't go and put yourself out as a game for Russell just for her sake, will you?"

No response. Pam leaned over the table: "Eric, listen to me. This is going on too long. Its just wrong! Its worse then when you lost all your memories. You have to snap out of it!"

"Pam, not now please."

Pam wanted to rant some more, but the look in his eyes shut her up. He was in pain, she could see that much. She would do anything to protect him from Russell and from himself. How much she hated Sookie, for what she's done to him. Now, however was not the time. She left the office.

He needed to go out, he could not stand the room. Her presence was felt all over. She was going to live with Bill now and it was just a matter of time before she will be his again.

Up on the hill, thoughts of her still felt like violent waves crushing against the rocky shore of his consciousness. It took him an inhuman effort to start thinking about more earthly and expedient matters. Russell. He told her Russell might not be yet of an issue, but he knew better. The news about Russell were getting more and more frequent. Eric kept an eye on the whole matter since Russell's escape. Who the fuck let this maniac out in the first place, he wondered.

The word on the street was that Russell was preparing for an all out war, in which not humans nor vampires will be spared. He was allegedly moving from place to place underground, setting up multiple army cells all over the world. According to some sources he was very active in Europe. The AVL was constantly sending requests for his arrest and extradition. But the European league, jealous and resentful of the power of their American colleagues, turned a blind eye on his dealings. A wrong move, Eric thought. European league was extremely naive if they thought they could use Russell against US and be spared in the process. Russell does not spare. He just tolerates... until he finds it useful.

Apart from Russell's war plans, Eric was probably on the top of his revenge list, followed by Sookie, and then Bill. Bill, he couldn't care less, but Sookie...He was recently notified by his sources close to AVL that agents connected directly to Russell were spotted in Lousiana. He guessed Bill, being the king, obtained the same information and hence his worries regarding Sookie. If only there was another way, but Eric knew that Bill's plan to take Sookie to his mansion was the best one. She would be too much at risk if he kept her by his side.

All he could hope for now was to gather enough strength to put up a hell of a fight and go down with a blast. This was something he owed to his old self. He started to laugh quietly. Suddenly, a gentle night wind brought him unexpected news. His sense of smell picked up a strong stench coming from the dark forest. The forest was too thick to allow anyone to see its intruders, but Eric did not need to see. He recognized the smell immediately - the werewolves. Many of them. He could hear them now as well, even though they were trying to sneak up on him quietly.

He considered briefly his position. He has not eaten in days, still his strength should be sufficient for killing most of them and then he could have a decent dinner. The approaching werewolves were not a coincidence. They would not be organized in such a large pack just for casual hunting. Besides, he did not know of any large packs in the vicinity. Probably mercenaries. It was definitely a preplanned attack. Too late to turn back now. In any case, they would just follow him and he could not allow that.

He stood up, the wolves were still hidden by the trees, but he could hear their howls now. Slowly he started going downhill, toward the forest. The stench was getting stronger.

He reached the small meadow and stopped there. About fifteen meters ahead, among the first trees, he noticed a pair of yellowish eyes staring at him from the darkness. Then more and more pairs of vicious eyes appeared. The growling and howling grew stronger.

Finally they showed themselves. They were more than he expected. Fifty at least. Probably more than he could handle in his current state. His only open route was back up the hill, but he knew that he would be too slow. Its for the best, he thought, one fights better when presented with no other option than to kill or be killed.

Eric stood immovable. His tall, pale figure illuminated by moonlight looked somehow majestic in the midst of murderous beasts closing in on him slowly.

Truly a beautiful moment, he thought to himself. His fangs came out, the first wolf attacked.

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><p>2.<p>

Eric dodged the attack quickly, caught the wolf by the neck and tore his head off. The pack got excited at the scene. Two more wolves attacked. One jumped on Eric's upper body, the other sunk his teeth into his left leg. Eric pinned down the first one and tore his neck with the fangs, then he shook off the wolf attached to his leg, jumped on him and ripped his belly open.

He stood up, his left leg felt a bit shaky. He noticed a deep wound from the bite. His healing was slow, he hasn't fed for days. The wolves got agitated. It looked like they got more and more excited with each of their comrade's death. Eric sensed no fear or hesitation in them. What a sick pack, he thought, and prepared for another attack. Another two charged, both at his legs. Eric fell backwards but managed to rip off the head of one wolf and sank his fangs into the throat of the other.

Both of his legs were injured now. He bled heavily from the left thigh. He stood up again but this time it took him considerable effort and pain. Wolves started to move around anxiously. How many more can he take? He could summon Pam, but he refused to do so. This was a matter he needed to settle alone. For his sake...for Sookie's sake.

She again, in what might be as well his final thoughts. The image of her mixing with anticipation of a fierce battle to death...almost like in the good old days, Eric thought. His face was smeared with blood, his eyes slightly closed. Fangs out, he was ready for another attack.

Suddenly he felt a presence behind him, not of a werewolf, another kind of presence. He turned to see, but at the same moment two more wolves came at him. He caught the first one in the air and smashed him against the ground, but before he could compose himself to repel the second attacker, it was already too late. He felt the wolf's fangs deep inside his shoulder, pulling him down. He fell. The wolf started to drag him towards his companions. He looked up the hill in desperation. The blood and dirt all over his face obstructed his vision, but he could still discern two figures on the top. The presence he felt... was that of a vampire, he was sure of it. Could it be Russell?

The thought gave him new strength and he threw himself on the wolf. They started to roll on the ground, wrestling, until Eric somehow managed to fight his way on the top of the wolf, grabbed his mouth with both hands and pulled in the opposite direction, spreading him wide open. The blood poured out and splashed all over Eric. He rolled over to the side of the deformed beast and lay on his back. The stars were shining so bright, if only he could stay like this for a while. He suddenly felt so tired, he could just close his eyes..._No, dammit...I won't make it easier for them!_ He got on all fours and tried to stand up but somehow he could not. His condition was getting worse. He was losing blood much faster than he could heal. He started to crawl up the hill.

"Russeeell! I'm coming for you!"

He managed to advance few meters up the hill when he felt a wolf at his ankle. He continued forward, pulling the wolf with him. The pain was excruciating. His hands were trying to reach for something to hold on, but the grass was slippery and had nothing to offer. He could now see clearly two persons on the top. They were talking to each other in a language he could not identify. He understood by now that it was not Russell.

He felt more bites at his legs, looked down and saw that two more wolves joined. They were drinking him. He tried to kick them away but did not have enough strength. His legs were already too damaged. He felt his blood slowly draining away. His vision worsened and his head felt light. What a shitty situation, a major fuck up, he thought.

The voices on the top of the hill got louder. He could discern a more gentle voice, maybe a woman's, and a man's voice, that sounded very authoritative. Then the talking abruptly stopped. Almost in the same instant, as if from a dream, a figure appeared besides him. The wolves at his legs jumped back in surprise. Despite his blurred vision, he could make out a female silhouette standing on his right side. First thing he noticed were her ankle high army like boots right next to his head. As he slowly looked up, his eyes passed over black pants and a hooded jacket, and stopped at her long black hair, tied up in a pony tail. Some of the shorter hair, loose on the sides of her temples were hiding her face. Then she turned and looked at him. Her face had slight Asian features, but the most striking to Eric in this, now almost surrealistic situation, were her green eyes, illuminated by a mysterious sparkle passing through them, like a star falling over a clear sky. Is it Death, he wondered. At this point only the pain reminded him that he was still somehow connected to this world.

She then turned toward the wolves again and spoke with a quiet, calm voice, which was in such a contrast with the excessively aggressive situation and wolves' growling, that gave Eric the creeps: "You, barbarians, you really do not know how to fight, do you? It is all brutal force, no strategy, no tactics." She looked at him again, with a smirk, exposing her fangs. Eric was laying helpless on his back staring at this creature that came out of nowhere, trying to make some sense of it. He wanted to reply to the provocative words, but his lips would not move.

The wolves were getting impatient, the intruder was not in their plan. The rest of the pack started to move closer. Four in the front were in full readiness for attack, two charged forward. This is it, Eric thought. He prepared to meet the wolf, but then, like in a slow motion, he saw the woman sprang up towards the two wolves, and pulling something shiny from behind her back while in the air. The next thing he saw were two pieces of each wolf falling down on sides, slashed in a perfect, slightly diagonal cut. Immediately the next wolf started toward Eric from the left side but before he could reach him the woman was already in front. The wolf fell down flat on the ground. He changed to his human form and Eric noticed a deep wound on his body, spreading from his left shoulder to his right hip bone. She was standing with her back against him and he could now see in her right hand a long sword, glowing in the moonlight. She picked up the body of the werewolf, she just slashed, and threw it towards Eric. The werewolf was still alive. "Feed!" she said and turned around to face the rest of the pack.

_What the fuck!_ He was still kind of hoping that all this was just some twisted daydream, caused by the loss of his blood. What followed next, however, dispersed any of his remaining doubts. Suddenly, the pack spread and he saw one of the werewolves in the back changed to his human form. The werewolf began to approach cautiously and stopped few meters in front of the woman. Other wolves respectfully moved aside. His threatening posture was impressive. Interesting, thought Eric, he must be of an importance, probably a pack leader, now lets see how the woman handles this.

The werewolf addressed her: "This matter does not concern you. Leave now and we will spare you and your other friend. If you choose to do otherwise..." Before he finished the sentence, his head suddenly detached and flew up in the air, while his body remained standing still for few seconds, blood pouring from the neck, and then collapsed to the ground. His head was severed by one, almost unperceivable, motion of her sword. Then she said calmly to the bewildered wolves: "I don't like being threatened".

The wolves went wild, their excitement for kill was now replaced by shock and eagerness for revenge. It was clear that a massacre was about to happen. She leaned toward Eric and whispered in his ears: "You see, this is called using strategy. You kill off their leader and now the confusion starts, which can be used to our advantage."

_What the fuck is she talking about! Is she for real?_ Eric gasped in astonishment.

She started to run downhill toward the center of the pack. The wolves left Eric and went after her. They didn't care about him anymore, all they wanted was to avenge their leader. He could hear her fighting screams mixing with the growls and cries of wolves. He leaned on the elbow to see better what was happening below and saw her moving swiftly from one wolf to another, splitting them in half on the way. As if she knew where the next attack was coming from, she moved into position quickly and repelled it with an impressive agility. Her movements were elegant and sleek, like that of a cat. There were no excessive moves, everything had a purpose. It's been a while, since he saw somebody fighting like this. None of the wolves could advance beyond the point of her sword. She must have killed more than a dozen in few minutes. She moved with such lightness and ease through their attacks that for a moment Eric felt like he was watching some twisted ballet performance. The wolves became scattered and started to retreat. Eric thought she would stop at this point but instead she continued to pursue them, until they disappeared in woods. She was about to enter the forest, when a call was heard from her companion in a language Eric could still not identify.

She stopped, stood there for a moment, then turned unwillingly and started to walk back slowly.

Eric sank his teeth in the body, brought to him, and started to feed from it as fast as he could. He was hoping to regain at least some strength before she reaches him. She was one crazy fucked up creature, and he certainly didn't want to join the wolves that she left behind in one or more pieces. And then there was also her companion. Who knows what a bad motherfucker was that one if she listened to him so obediently.

She stopped few meters in front of him, her sword ready. Eric assessed the distance: one leap forward and the reach would be deadly. Suddenly, he felt another presence on his side. He looked up and saw an older Asian man of a short but muscular stature, dressed in some kind of traditional clothes. His face was kind, and he was smiling when looking at Eric. Certainly not the kind of companion he expected from that crazy bitch. The old man moved closer and Eric, while still incapable to stand up, showed his fangs as if in full preparedness to attack. The woman moved slightly forward. Her fangs were fully out and Eric noticed again a strange sparkle passing through her eyes. He could feel her determination; she will cut him down before he can make any move at all. In fact, he had the impression she was quite eager to do so. He knew that in his current state he was no match for her. Perhaps, I could at least take the old man out, he considered briefly. But the old man did not attack, instead, he spoke softly with a slight accent: " Please, do not worry Eric san. We are here to help you. We will do you no harm." Strangely, Eric felt no danger coming from him. There was something reassuring in this old man's voice. The woman on the other hand, was giving him quite the opposite impression, so he remained on guard. As if the old man understood his concerns, he turned to the woman and said something in a foreign language, which Eric finally recognized. It was Japanese. Despite his long life he visited Far East only a couple of times. Their culture always seemed somehow too traditional and rigid and comparing to the luxurious life of no rules he enjoyed in US and Europe, he found the nightly routine in eastern countries quite boring. Consequently, he never bothered to learn any of their languages.

It seemed like the woman objected to what the man said, which caused him to raise voice to her. Obviously annoyed, she then bowed to the man and made a step backwards, retracting her fangs. Eric still kept his eyes firmly on her, fangs out. She was quite tall comparing to the old man and of a rather svelte athletic figure. He flinched a little when she swung her sword to the side in order to remove the blood from the blade and sheathed it behind her back with a single motion. She kneeled by one of the werewolves, that was still alive, and started to feed from his neck, watching Eric intently.

The old man spoke again: "You have to forgive my assistant, Eric san. She can be a bit overprotective sometimes."

Really, no shit, thought Eric and then said: "What I'd really like to know now is... WHO OR WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE?"

At the raise of his voice, the woman stopped feeding and lifted her head from the werewolf's neck. The whiteness of her face contrasted with the smeared blood around her mouth in such a way, that Eric thought she looked pale even for a vampire. She said: "Of course one cannot expect much from a barbarian like you, but you shall not address my master in this way!"

Eric found her comments extremely annoying. "Why don't you spare me with your snobbish bullshit and JUST FUCK THE HELL OFF!" he said in response.

Suddenly, she was right in front of his face. It was an intense stare down between the two of them. They both had their fangs out. She was about to make a move, when the voice of the old man stopped her: "Yuki, enough!" She retreated, looked at Eric with an obvious contempt and reluctantly got back to feeding.

The man continued with a kind voice: "Eric san, I apologize for coming here like this, unannounced. We first wanted to visit you at your house, but just as we came, we saw you leaving in a hurry, before we could speak to you. As it is an urgent matter, we followed you here. The way things turned out, it was an interesting experience and excellent opportunity for us to see you on the battlefield. We are very impressed with your fighting abilities and your warrior spirit, Eric san."

The woman interrupted: "Really, sensei?" There with an obvious mocking tone in her voice. "A waste of time if you ask me", she added, and continued to suck from the body.

The old man smiled in embarrassment and gave her an angry look. He addressed Eric again: "Eric san, please let me introduce myself first. My name is Fujiwara Kansuke. I'm a delegate of a Japanese diplomatic envoy, visiting the United States. I have been entrusted with a mission I would like to discuss with you. You have already met my assistant and protégé Miss Yuki Nobunaga. She is usually much friendlier." Sure she is, thought Eric, looking at her, feeding with an intense pleasure from the torn neck of the werewolf. "Hajime mashte. We are very pleased to meet you", said the old man and bowed.

Eric was staring in disbelief at both of them. This odd conversation, the politeness of the old man, his funny clothes, the extremely annoying tension he felt from the woman, it was more he could handle right now.

He wanted to get up and leave, but his legs were still too weak.

The old man came to his assistance: "We would be happy to discuss the matter again later, when you feel better. Please allow my assistant to help you and carry you home."

Yuki stood up in surprise: "What! No way, I'm not touching him. He is all dirty..." She looked at Eric with a face of a child who just swallowed something bitter.

Could this night get any worse, thought Eric. "Thank you Mr. Fujiwara, but I'll manage. I'd rather stay here and meet the sun than being carried by that creepy creature of yours." He managed to get up on his knees but almost immediately fall back down. He was still bleeding heavily.

The old man looked at Yuki and said something in Japanese.

"But sensei..."

"YUKI!" ordered Fujiwara sharply.

Yuki unwillingly let go of the werewolf, approached Eric, who was still laying down, and started to grab him in different ways, trying to avoid as much as possible the dirtiest parts. It looked comic and Eric was hoping he would pass out to spare himself from these embarrassing moments. She finally took him by his left arm, placed him over the shoulder and started to walk up the hill. The old man followed.

Eric didn't move. He wasn't sure whether it was because of the amount of blood he lost or because of the horror of this whole humiliating situation, but he did nothing. His eyes were closing. He felt the sword over her back, his feet were dragging on the ground. Last thing he remembered was her gentle perfume mixing with the strong smell of werewolves' blood. Then he went blank.

* * *

><p>3.<p>

Eric opened his eyes. He recognized the coffin, and sighed with relief. At least he was at home. His body still felt tired and a bit stiff, but the bleeding stopped, and he could feel that most of his wounds already healed. He remembered last night. All the details slowly came to his mind, down to the very humiliating ending. _So they or rather...she... brought me home._ The thought alone caused him a bitter feeling.

He had no recollection on how he actually got home and who put him in the coffin. He tried to imagine how that looked like. Probably Pam was here when they brought him in. Or maybe he was lucky enough that they left him outside the bar and then Pam found him. He would have preferred that. She must've gotten scared shit seeing him in such a state. Since the whole Sookie affair, which clearly took its toll on him and caused him to fall into all kinds of unhappy moods ranging between melancholia, apathy and suicidal depression, Pam was always so attentive towards him. She tried to hide her concerns, but Eric knew her too well to notice the difference from her usual icy bitch behaviour.

Laying in his coffin he felt at ease and realized that he was actually feeling much better tonight, than he had felt on a number of previous nights upon his awakening. It's been a while since he had a good sleep without any disturbing dreams about Sookie, which usually hunted him during the last few months. Of course it might be as well the consequence of passing out, yet he couldn't help to notice that, despite his multiple, almost fatal injuries from last night, he felt somehow revitalized and even had a healthy appetite. Must be the effect of a near death experience, he concluded.

He was reluctant to open the coffin. He knew once he gets up, he will have to face the events of yesterday. He wished everything would be just somehow forgotten, and he'd continue like nothing happened, but he had a strong feeling that exactly the opposite will occur.

He lifted up the cover of the coffin. There was a sound of the door opening, and Pam was at his side before the cover was fully up.

"Eric, dammit, why didn't you summon me yesterday. Do you have any idea..."

"Pam, good evening to you too."

"They brought you in last night, just before the sunrise, and I thought..."

There went his hope for a less humiliating return by simply leaving him outside the door.

"...I thought ...How could you do that Eric, not calling me?"

"Why don't we discuss this at breakfast?"

"No, you will tell me everything right now and I'll go after the motherfuckers who did this to you and I'll make them wish their sorry asses were never born."

Eric was quick out of the coffin, came close to Pam and spoke to her with a caring but at the same time authoritative voice: " Pam, lets not forget who is the boss here. I appreciate your concerns, but I really don't need a baby sitter. What I'd really like to have now is some good breakfast. Could you arrange that for me?"

Pam was taken aback by his confident approach and fresh look in his eyes. In the past few months she had to take over all kinds of matters for which Eric showed no interest. It mostly concerned the business, but also other stuff that Eric usually handled. He had responsibilities as a Sheriff, and she did not want vampires and humans to see him like that. So she would play his deputy, tell customers that he was away, and deal with the matters, she usually had no authorization or experiences with. She did everything to conceal the self-destructive state her maker was in. The hardest thing for her though, was to see Eric, aimlessly wandering around and all his thousand year old strong self-confidence gone, preoccupying himself with nothing else but Sookie. She tried really hard to help him and distract him from his thoughts, but he wouldn't let her near. He had hard time sleeping and on many of his awakenings she would find him bleeding. There were times she had to make sure that he actually fed, so at least his physical state would not deteriorate to a critical point. She felt quite desperate in what to do.

And now suddenly, standing before her was a new, or rather "old" Eric. Not yet fully restored, but she could certainly feel a change in him. And he wants to feed. She was surprised, but even more so, she was glad and relieved.

"Of course, I always keep something in reserve," she replied and disappeared from the room.

Eric dressed comfortably and went to the living room. He sat down on the bordeau sofa, and waited for Pam. He could hear the music downstairs. The bar was starting to fill up. In few minutes Pam appeared at the door with a young brunette.

"Hello there," Eric greeted, eying the newcomer.

Pam came closer and whispered in his ear: "She is all I could find for now. Considering your feeding habits in the past few months, I didn't keep much of a variety in stock. She is, however, your favourite blood type."

"Mmm, how very thoughtful of you Pam." Eric looked toward the girl, and signalled her to come closer.

"And make it quick, I have some urgent news for you afterwards..." added Pam.

The girl was willing, but it looked like it was her first time, so she was shy in her approach. Eric patted on the sofa with his hand for her to sit. She sat down next to him. He went with his hand through her hair slowly, down to the neck. She was trembling.

She started to talk nervously with a strong southern accent: "I was told by Pam, that you might need a new waitress down in the bar and I would really like to work for you Mr. Northman. I have good experience and I ..."

Eric looked at Pam, and she slightly shook her head, letting him know, that no such arrangements will take place. She knew Eric did not like to have his food working in the bar.

"...and I was also waitressing at various coffee places, so I know how to make a really good coffee...well, not that this matters much for you vampires, but as there are also human customers...oh, I'm sorry I completely forgot to tell you my name, I'm just so nervous cause its my first time and..."

"Shhhh, we don't need to discuss any of this now.."said Eric softly. He bent her head slightly, and bit into her. She gave a small scream and started to moan from the intensity of his sucking.

Pam stood by the door, her leaps curling with amusement, until he signalled her to leave. She exited the room thinking to herself: whatever happened last night and however brutal it must have been, it did bring him back. And she was glad to have him back.

* * *

><p>Eric wiped the blood from his lips and felt satisfied. His strength was fully restored, but more than that, the depressing mood that was holding him down for so long now, was almost entirely gone. As if something was lifted from his chest.<p>

The girl was slowly dressing up, her body slightly trembling. He wasn't planning on it, but he also fucked her. While he was feeding, he could feel her arousal - a very common effect that the biting, especially if it was for the first time, had on women. A strong lust came over him and he couldn't stop himself. Sookie's image kept coming on his mind during the sex and the more he tried to resist it, the more he got excited and the stronger were the images. So he made it fast and quite rough, before it would drive him crazy. The girl had now some trouble walking but she had a blissful glow on her face.

"So Mr., may I call you Eric now..." He hated post-coital conversations. The common mistake of humans to think that fucking alone should automatically induce some deeper level of friendliness. He just wanted to get rid of her, so he didn't bother to answer.

"Mr. Eric then.." she said, simpering in response to his silence. "Regarding the job at your bar, I would be more than willing to start immediately."

"I'm sure Pam will be able to explain you everything about it."

"Yes, but what do you..."

"Just talk to Pam. I'm afraid you have to leave now, I have some urgent matters to attend." Eric pointed at the door and he looked at her in a way she understood not to ask again.

She tied up her messy hair, tackled the blouse and walked out in an awkward shaky manner, still feeling the consequences of the loss of blood and her complete abandonment to Eric.

Eric lay back and closed his eyes. His thoughts kept going back to Sookie, her sweet blood that cannot compare to any regular human's blood, her delicate body pressed tightly against his and the feeling he had just by holding her close, which alone surpassed any other climaxes. He knew, he won't be able to let her go that easily.

Pam appeared.

"So I see you've enjoyed your breakfast", said Pam with a smirk.

"Yes, thank you Pam, but next time I'd like to have something...quieter."

"Don't worry I'll deal with her later. Its not so easy these days to get something for free you know, despite your irresistible charm."

"Are you making fun of me, Pam?" asked Eric, still lying comfortable on the sofa, eyes closed.

"Would I ever dare?" said Pam wittily. "Anyway, now that you're up, we need to discuss last night."

Eric knew this was coming. He turned to her: "Tell me first, how did I get here?"

"They brought you in, Eric. You were passed out and in a terrible state, I was afraid that..."

"So you've met them, both of them?"

"Yes, the woman carried you in, the old man explained what happened."

"What exactly did they tell you?"

"The old man said you were attacked by werewolves and that they found you in this state and took you home. He said, he knew who you were, because of your formal position, and he was planning to visit you anyway. They were both very polite. He is part of some Japanese political visit in Louisiana. I had the impression he is connected on high level, Eric. How the fuck did it happen that a JVL member on a visit finds you half dead and brings you home?"

"What about the woman?"

"What about her?"

"Did she say anything?" asked Eric carefully.

Pam thought for a second: "No, not that I remember, I think she almost didn't speak at all, except when she introduced herself. Yuki Nabo..Nobu...something...I haven't really remembered their names. She was kind of cute."

"Cute?"

"Yes, sweet like. I think she was quite intrigued by the bar and everything, she would probably have stayed here longer, if it wasn't for the old man."

"Are we talking about the same person?"

"She is the one that carried you, Eric. I guess its not exactly her usual job to carry around a half dead Viking, twice her weight...why? Anyway, its your turn now, what really happened?"

Eric put his hands behind the head, contemplating for a second on how much he should tell Pam. He spoke calmly: "As they said, I was attacked by werewolves. It was not an ordinary pack, Pam, they were mercenaries. They were filled with vampire blood, I could taste it. They were too many, and too organized, it must be Russell behind them."

"Fuck, Eric, fuck, why didn't you...you killed them all?" Pam started to walk around nervously.

Eric smiled bitterly and looked down. "She did... this Yuki character. Most of them at least.. It seems they have omitted that part in their explanation, how considerate of them..."

"What?...damn...I thought there was something odd about her but I just attributed it to the fact that she is a Jap. To think again, she didn't strike me as just another ordinary vampire."

"She surely isn't, believe me. Anyway, I don't know why they did what they did, but I'm sure they have some hidden agenda. The old man spoke of some matters, he wants to discuss with me and as much as I'd rather never see their slanted eyes again, I'd really like to find out what the fuck is going on before it hits me in the face."

"Well, perhaps you will get this opportunity sooner than you think," said Pam, took an envelope from her pocket and gave it to him.

"The old man left this for you yesterday. Its an invitation to a formal dinner with the king. Bill will be hosting the JVL members, including the old man. Your presence is requested. Its tonight at "Crimson Willow."

"Fancy shit," said Eric looking at the neatly ornamented invitation.

"Yes, formal dress code is required. And you need to hurry, it starts in one hour."

"Shit, the last thing I was planning tonight is to deal with that over polite old Jap and his crazy bitch..."

"You have no choice Eric, the king requested...besides they did save your life."

Eric shrugged with resignation. "I guess in any case I will have to face them sooner or later, might be as well sooner then." He noticed a nervous expression on Pam's face. "Is there something else you want to tell me, Pam?"

"Well..." she was stalling on purpose.

"Spit it out Pam!"

"Sookie will be there as well."

"I see". He didn't expect that.

"Just make sure you behave. I really wouldn't like to have king's loyal subjects sniffing around, probing into Fangtasia's business matters, if you know what I mean... "

"Don't worry Pam, I always knew how to behave in front of the royalty."

"Ok, then. Your clothes are ready downstairs." She walked towards the door. "By the way, about last night...don't think you'll get away with it this easily."

Eric smiled at her. "I'm sure we can negotiate on some kind of compensation. And Pam, have Lafayette bring me my car. I feel like taking a ride downtown in a flashy style."

After Pam left he went downstairs to dress up. He was standing in front of the closet. The suit Pam chose for the occasion was neatly placed in front. But his mind was elsewhere. He will have to face Sookie again. Seeing her last night, almost resulted in his death. How will it be this time, he wondered, to sit there in her company, surrounded by some suits and Bill. The thought irritated him and caused him a sharp feeling of pain. _It will certainly be a test._ He moved the suit aside and took out his usual clothes.

* * *

><p>Lafayette was waiting outside leaning on the car. Two months passed, since he started to work for Eric at Fangtasia. The decision to work there was, as he put it jokingly, his own voluntary choice that Eric made for him. He was still scared shit of Eric, but the job itself was not as bad as he thought it would be. He became Eric's daily man, took care of the supplies, worked behind the bar when needed and did other errands he was told by Eric or Pam. Working for a vampire like Eric and his unpredictable progeny, was stressful enough to distract him from painful memories on Jesus. He was even getting along well with Ginger, considering she once shot him in the leg, but, as Lafayette saw it - at least she was a human. The pay was very good, and he needed money badly. Besides, in the short time he worked at Fangtasia, he almost didn't see Eric, and even when he did, Eric barely spoke to him. His only questions were concerning Sookie.<p>

This was one thing Lafayette hated at his new job. He became some sort of Eric's spy on Sookie. He suspected that was the main reason Eric insisted on employing him in the first place. He refused at first, of course, but it was clear that Eric will not let go. He assured him that it was only in the best interest of Sookie, the more he knew about her, the better he could protect her. He also told him that if he didn't cooperate, he will have no choice but to notify the new magistrate about Lafayette's V dealings and warned him that the magistrate won't be as gentle in administering the sentence as was he when he closed him in the dungeon. The memories on the dungeon still made Lafayette shiver, so he went along with it, calming his conscience by convincing himself that he was doing this only to protect Sookie.

Luckily for him, there was not much to report on Sookie, except in the past two weeks or so, when he saw her together with Bill in one of the restaurants. He first thought of simply concealing this from Eric, but he realized that if he would find out elsewhere - and Lafayette was sure that Eric did not rely only on him for information - he would question him and it could turn ugly. Lafayette could not lie to him, Eric would know. So he prepared the whole speech wrapped nicely in words such as casual meeting, no meaningful gestures or looks, it looked as if only two friends chatting, don't kill the messenger, etc. He waited in horror for Eric's reaction, but to his surprise, Eric simply dismissed him without words. To deal with Pam was of course another thing. She became so overprotective about Eric that she made Lafayette report her every detail regarding Sookie before he could pass it on to Eric. Lafayette knew better than to upset her, so he had a hard time concealing things from her, but he also knew Pam was no danger to him, as long as he was under Eric's protection. Last night when he saw Sookie coming to Fangtasia with Bill, he first panicked, but before he could think of a plausible explanation, Eric stormed out without even noticing him. Lafayette left home soon after, so he didn't know how the rest of the evening played out. And tonight, out of nowhere, Pam told him that Eric requested the car.

Lafayette felt the fear growing in him with every minute he passed waiting. He started to speculate on reasons why Eric suddenly wanted the car, and each possible reason he came up with was more disturbing than the previous. _I just hope whatever that bad fucker is up to, it has nothing to do with me._ In the midst of his considerations, Eric suddenly appeared in front of him.

Lafayette stumbled back.

"Shit...can't you people learn to approach like normal people?" He still didn't get used to Eric and Pam sneaking upon him like this, usually when he least expected it.

"We could, but this is so much funnier," replied Eric grinning. He walked around the car. "I see you take good care of the car I gave you."

"The car you sold me, remember. And considering all the shit I had to go through for that I'd say it's well paid off."

"Surely, you wouldn't object lending it to me for a night, would you?" Eric appeared again in front of Lafayette, this time so close to his face that he had to lean backwards.

"Nnnnno, of course not," replied Lafayette.

"Good, I wouldn't like to spoil our good working relationship," said Eric and grinned.

Before Lafayette could respond to that, Eric was already behind the wheel of his red corvette.

"The keys," he stretched out his hand. Lafayette obediently threw him the keys.

"And Lafayette, keep your eyes open and visit Sookie more often from now on, I want frequent reports on what's going on in the mansion."

"In the mansion?"

"Sometimes I really wonder what I pay you for...she moved in with Bill, I want you to make a visit there as soon as possible."

"But... how the fuck do you expect me to get the permission to enter Bill's house?"

"I'm sure you'll manage," said Eric, winked at his surprised face and drove off.

Lafayette sighed. He noticed a change in Eric. His recent distant behaviour, which made Lafayette feel almost at ease in Fangtasia, was now replaced by the more familiar fearsome presence, which commanded authority and kept Lafayette always on the edge. "I better make plans on how to invite myself to the king's house or this scary motherfucker will do much worse than taking my car for a ride", concluded Lafayette and returned inside.

* * *

><p>Eric stopped the car right in front of the "Crimson Willow". The valet waiting outside greeted him. Eric handed over the car keys and proceeded up the stairs. Crimson Willow was the most prestigious restaurant in the town, specializing in vampire customers. The building itself was impressive and atypical of the area. It was built in the 18th century rococo style, with rich, elaborate curves and decorations, its walls painted in a pale blue colour. Above the massive door there was a striking sculpture of a woman's head, bearing a dignified expression on her face covered with small jewels. Her nose was pierced with a large ring, from which thin chains led to both ears and attached to massive earrings. The curls of her hair spread out in the shape of a Pharaonic like cover, interwoven with small snakes, reminding slightly of the Greek Medusa. Her cold immovable eyes were looking downwards as if to warn the guests of their entrance.<p>

The owner of the restaurant was surrounded by the same mysterious aura that permeated the building. He was known to general public only by his nickname "the Tailor", and allegedly owned a whole chain of such excusive restaurants all over the world. According to some speculations, he was a very old Viennese vampire, who despite owing an enormous increase of his wealth to the Great Revelation, he never quite identified with its agenda and preferred to keep his identity hidden, especially from the humans.

The interior of the restaurant matched its flamboyant style of the outside. Stylishly furnished with intricate designs and emphasis on delicate details, pastel red and black colour prevailing. Some of the furniture pieces looked very old and would have been a feast for the eyes of an antique collector. The dining hall was not too big, but its very high ceilings gave a feeling of spaciousness. Huge chandeliers of black and transparent crystal glass were hanging from the top. The tables were cleverly set in a way that the guests at each table had the feeling of privacy. Massive red velvet sofas placed in a half circle around the tables displayed prestige and comfort at the same time. Except the long entrance hall, the dining area and an adjacent kitchen like room from which the dishes were coming out, other parts of the building were not accessible to the guests, and one could only imagine to what purposes the rest of the rooms served.

The menu of the restaurant was not less impressive than its physical appearance. Most of the dishes were made of fresh human blood and even rare types of blood such as Bombay group were available. The blood tasted deliciously and there were rumours, that the restaurant had human donors on the spot. Nobody really dared to inquire about the details of restaurant's services or question the legality of such procedures, because "the Tailor" was well respected among the vampire community and more importantly, he had connections on the highest levels of the AVL.

The prices were set accordingly. The restaurant was affordable only to the elite class of vampires, and dining at Willow's was a clear status indicator: you were part of vampire political elite, a member of nobility or just a very rich vampire. As the restaurant focused almost exclusively on vampire customers there were almost no humans among the guests neither was there any human food on the menu. But even at Willows' they could not completely ignore the latest changes and trends in vampire human relationships and had to adapt to the fact, that humans occasionally accompanied some of the vampire guests. In consideration of this, they made an effort to offer a simple variety of salads and two or three types of red wine, which could be served to humans, so they wouldn't feel too uncomfortable at the table.

Eric has been in the restaurant before. As a Sheriff he had to attend meetings with the AVL representatives and sometimes they would choose Crimson Willow. Despite having enough financial backup to afford himself an occasional dining out at Willows', he never went there unless obliged by his political duty. It just wasn't his type of place. He hated the uptight vampire elite, having the most boring and unoriginal conversations, most of them coming to the restaurant only to prove to themselves and their look-alikes that they were still part of the exclusive upper class. He did not need to prove anything to anyone and he still preferred the simple, natural way of feeding from healthy and willing humans, that him and Pam could easily find at the club.

Security guard stopped Eric at the entrance. Eric's informal clothing, unusual for Willow's guests, made the guard suspicious. Since the Fellowship's attack the security in public vampires places, and particularly at restaurants like Crimson Willow, with its prestigious clientele, was raised to the highest level. But before the guard could proceed with his check-up routine, Eric waved the royal invitation in front of his face and the guard respectfully moved aside, greeting him humbly.

Eric strolled through the long entrance hall, ignoring the girl that wanted to take his jacket and went straight to the host who directed him towards the table. First he noticed Bill, waving to him and when he reached the table he saw Sookie sitting by his side. She wore a light blue gown that matched perfectly her clear eyes. With her hair tied up and expensive but tasteful earrings that matched the necklace around her bare white neck, Eric felt like in a presence of a queen. He couldn't stop staring at her. She looked up and her eyes timidly met his.

It took Eric few seconds to compose himself and notice on her left side five Japanese, all in the same grey suits, recognizing among them the old man he met last night on the hill. He was sitting at the end of the half circle sofa, opposite of Bill and Sookie. The other Japanese were squeezed in between. With some disappointment Eric noticed that the woman, Yuki, was not present.

Bill stood up and greeted Eric warmly, shaking his hand. He leaned toward him smiling and whispering through his teeth: "Wasn't the invitation clear regarding the dress code?"

"Of course", Eric replied with the same considerate tone. "Don't you see I put on a tie?" The dark red cravat was the only formal piece of clothing on Eric. It was in sharp contrast with his rather casual black v neck t-shirt, black leather jacket and black close-fitting jeans.

"Hi Eric, don't you look stylish..." Sookie smiled at him. She gave him the hand but to her surprise, instead of just shaking it, Eric bowed and gently kissed it, looking at her wittily:"Thank you Sookie and may I say you look gorgeous tonight!"

There was a certain air about him, something she could not quite explain, but it caused her to leave the hand at Eric's lips for more time than manners demanded. When she realized that, she visibly blushed, removed her hand and responded awkwardly: "Thank you, Eric."

Bill noticed her discomfort and was annoyed by Eric's impertinent behaviour. He wanted to say something, but he realized that to start a quarrel in front of his guests, would be highly improper. He swallowed down the bitter feeling and continued with introductions. "Gentlemen, this is Mr Eric Northman, the Sheriff of Area 5." He went on, introducing the Japanese delegation to Eric. "These are Mr Abe and Mr Takahashi, JVL representatives of the economic division." The two Japanese stood up and bowed respectfully. "These gentlemen here are from the Foreign Affairs, Mr Hamada and Mr Nishimura." They greeted him in the same way.

"And last but not least Mr Fujiwara, from the Cultural department."

Cultural department my ass, Eric thought with some amusement, still not knowing what kind of reaction to expect from Fujiwara.

Fujiwara stood up and approached Eric smiling. Before Eric could say anything, Fujiwara shook his hand and spoke: "Yes, yes, we've already met with Eric san last night."

Bill was surprised. "Really, you have? How come?"

Eric, slightly nervous, was waiting to hear Fujiwara's explanation.

Fujiwara: "With my assistant we passed his club yesterday night by chance and when we heard that it is also Sheriff's house we stopped briefly to exchange greetings, isn't that so Eric san?"

So, he is continuing with this farce, Eric smirked, and played along: "Of course! It was indeed a strange coincidence and you can imagine my surprise. But may I add, that meeting Mr Fujiwara and his lovely assistant was a most delightful experience."

Fujiwara smiled at Eric's exaggerated tone:"Yes indeed it was, thank you Eric san."

They sat down. Eric took a place next to Fujiwara, with Sookie in front of him. He felt his eyes drawn to Sookie so before others could notice how smitten he was with her, he turned to Fujiwara and asked: "Speaking of your assistant, where is she? I thought she would be joining us for dinner."

Fujiwara: "Well you know, for Yuki, this is her first time out of the country...so she didn't want to...as she put it "waste her time" with boring political dinners and decided rather to experience the new environment. In fact, I believe she said something about visiting your club tonight..."

Eric's mouth half opened in surprise and he felt a sudden rage raising in him.

"I see," he managed to utter.

Fujiwara prodded him further:"I hope that is not a problem for you, Eric san?"

"Absolutely not, we are always thrilled to welcome new guests," responded Eric with a forced smile. _Shit, that damn presumptuous bitch!_ He should warn Pam. The thought that she might be sniffing around his bar, while he was away, irritated him extremely. He suddenly felt the urge to leave and return to Fangtasia, but he knew, it would look too obvious. He will just have to bear with the dinner a little longer and hopefully Pam will manage to deal with her till his return.

Sookie: "Well, if your assistant would like, Mr Fujiwara, I could take her a bit around and show her some of the town's attractions."

Eric reacted immediately: "No!"

Sookie and Fujiwara looked at him, slightly bewildered by the decisiveness of his tone.

"I mean..." Eric turned to Bill for help.

Bill immediately understood his worrisome look and said: "Sookie, I'm quite sure, that Mr Fujiwara's assistant will be very busy with her diplomatic obligations. Besides there are professionals handling the itinerary for the whole convoy, including touristic excursions, isn't that so Mr Fujiwara?"

Fujiwara: "You are quite right, Mr Compton, but thank you dear lady for your generous offer. It is highly appreciated."

Sookie smiled politely.

Eric felt relieved when the waiter arrived with a bottle of blood and prevented this conversation to go any further. He would never permit Sookie to be alone with somebody like Yuki.

The waiter first served blood to Bill for a taste. Bill nodded in approval and the glasses were poured. A special glass of red wine was brought for Sookie. Bill raised the glass to make a toast:"A warm welcome to our guests. It is a great privilege for Louisiana to host such distinguished guests. I hope we can establish good connections, which will be beneficial for both sides and will ensure prosperity also in the future."

"Kampai!" said Fujiwara loudly and other Japanese followed. They all clinked the glasses and took a sip. Eric had to admit, that the taste of blood was superior. Not only it was human, but tasted almost as directly from the source. The temperature, the texture, it was simply perfect.

The conversation that followed was not much of an interest to Eric. Bill discussed with the Japanese the economic situation and possibilities of cooperation between the two leagues, gave an update on current political events concerning AVL and spoke about human-vampire relationship in the US. The Japanese were quite curious about the Fellowship of the Sun, asking questions regarding their influence and leaders. Eric noticed that nobody mentioned Russell Edginton. Perhaps, they are just too polite to bring up such an embarrassing matter in front of the king, he thought.

His eyes turned to Sookie. She was politely engaging in small talk with the guests, but obviously bored as well. From time to time she would looked at him and smiled. Eric would loose himself in her blue eyes and only snapped out of it at moments when he heard his name being mentioned, usually by Bill to support his claims regarding certain vampire matters.

The food kept coming on the table. On the request of the Japanese, quite a variety of dishes were prepared, which they then exchanged and tasted among themselves. Sookie received her salad and quietly got to it. Bill was being a perfect host, eloquent and entertaining. The conversation continued for twenty minutes or so and Eric started to get really bored. He almost found himself wishing that Fujiwara's assistant would be present. At least he wouldn't have to worry about the club and now that he was fully recovered, he could get back at her for her smack talk up on the hill. It would certainly make the whole evening a bit more interesting.

He was carefully observing the delegates, especially Fujiwara, and started to wonder, when will the old man approach him with the urgent matter he mentioned last night. He was quite sure that this most typical discussion among politicians was not in itself the real purpose of the dinner. So he laid back and waited.

At some point in the conversation, Fujiwara called the waiter. "Could you please bring us the special supplies, the owner kindly agreed to store for us here?"

"Certainly Sir." The waiter rushed toward the kitchen.

Fujiwara: "Now my dear new friends, what you will see and have a chance to taste is our latest invention. It's not yet out on the market, for the reasons you will soon understand, but some of us have the privilege to posses few of its examples and I'll be happy to share them with you."

The waiter returned with a tray of few Tru Blood like bottles and a set of small ceramic cups, subtly painted with motives of nature. The bottles were smaller and their design was somehow different than the usual Tru Blood. On the label it was written "Tru Blood X".

Sookie took one of the cups and examined it with admiration."What a beautifully painted cup! Have you brought them from Japan, Mr. Fujiwara?"

Fujiwara: "You have an eye for beauty, Miss Sookie. I brought the cups with me especially for this occasion. In Japan they are used for sake, the rice wine. The cups are handmade and originate from a very famous pottery village in Kyushu, in the south west of Japan. It is an old set but I find the beauty of it still breathtaking. In Japan we say "eat with the eyes first, then with the palate", and it means that the drink will taste even more deliciously when sipped from a beautiful cup such as this, that delights the eyes as well as the palate." Fujiwara put on a nostalgic expression and looked as if he lost himself in the poetic moment of his description.

Eric and Bill exchanged looks. It was just so overwhelmingly ridiculous to hear a vampire like Fujiwara, describing in such a caring and delicate way simple utensils for drinking, that Eric could hardly refrain himself from laughing.

Sookie gave Eric and Bill a scolding look and said: "I think it is a very nice habit to know how to appreciate the beauty in simple things. Thank you for your lovely explanation, Mr Fujiwara."

Fujiwara nodded, took one of the bottles and poured its content in the small cup. It looked just like the synthetic blood, but a bit thicker. He then filled up the rest of the cups and offered them to each vampire at the table.

Eric was the first to protest:"I think I will have to pass this time. No offence intended, but Tru Blood is just not my thing".

"Oh, but this is not the usual Tru Blood. Perhaps try just a little bit Eric san, I assure you won't regret it," said Fujiwara grinning.

Bill: "Eric, Mr Fujiwara obviously made an effort to bring us this new drink and the least we can do is to honour him by having a taste. Besides, in Japanese culture it's considered highly impolite to refuse a guest's offering."

Eric gave in. "Ok then, if you all insists so much, cheers!" He took a sip from the cup. The taste was much bitter and stronger than the usual Tru blood, but there was something else in it, that Eric could not quite identify.

Fujiwara drank his cup bottoms-up and smiled with satisfaction: "Dear friends, I present you the first ever vampire drink, that has the same effect like alcohol on humans."

Sookie asked with surprise:"You mean this is an alcoholic drink for vampires and can make them drunk?"

Fujiwara:"Well, it is of course not made of alcohol, but yes it effect vampires in a similar way. It makes us relaxed, more cheerful and can even cause some headaches the next night."

Eric remembered the fairy he once drank, and the effects of her blood. The taste was incomparable, this drink tasted like shit, but he could sense its strength. Sookie was looking at him nervously. He could feel her uneasiness. He shook his head to reassure her that the drink was not fairy blood and asked Fujiwara, what is it made of.

Fujiwara:"It is entirely artificial of course. Our chemists managed to produce a certain ingredient, which they call agent X, therefore the name. As far as I know, it has to do something with the boiling time at different temperatures and a correct amount of this agent. But I wouldn't know the details. The taste is still a bit bitter, but the more you drink it, the better it gets."

Bill: "I am very impressed by the knowledge and skilfulness of your Japanese scientists, if it wasn't for them we would still be hiding in the dark corners from the rest of the world. And now not only we can have a pleasant dinner in a public restaurant but we can also enrich it with a vampire liquor."

Fujiwara: "Thank you Mr. Compton, you are most kind."

Eric:"Do you really think its a good idea having drank vampires walking around?"

Fujiwara:"As I said, it is not out on the market yet, and the reasons for that are exactly the same as your concerns, Eric san. We still cannot completely predict the effects the drink would have on a general vampire population. On the other hand one could argue that this is more or less the same situation in humans' society. Some handle the alcohol better some worse, still they have the option to enjoy it freely. Why shouldn't we?"

Sookie:"Perhaps because you are much more powerful than we are and you can do so much more damage. Can you imagine what a drunk vampire could do if he loses all his self-control due to your drink?"

Fujiwara:"I can understand your concerns dear lady, but don't worry. We won't be as stupid as to release something that could damage us all. Besides, as far as its known, the drink not only enhances the positive feelings in a vampire, but it also totally decreases our aggressive or predatory instincts."

"Oh well then, we should make sure that you are drunk at all times..." Sookie responded with sarcasm.

Bill noticed her hostile disposition and interjected: "In this case then lets have a taste of it and enjoy ourselves. As you say, kampaai!" He took the cup and drank up. Eric made another sip, just to make sure that there was no similarity with the fairy blood. With relief, he could not detect any.

"I must warn you dear fellows, as this is your first time you drink it, it may affect you sooner than you think," said Fujiwara, smiling at Eric and Bill.

After one more sip, Eric could already feel the pleasant heat coming over him. Quite similar to when he drank the fairy, or Sookie. Luckily, the taste of the drink itself was not nearly as inviting, so he could easily hold back. He also wanted to keep his eyes open for Fujiwara.

The rest of the Japanese delegates seemed to be quite well acquainted with the drink, and kept filling the cups in intervals that were becoming shorter each time. They asked the waiter to bring more bottles. Bill refrained from drinking as much as he could, but as a host he had to keep up with the guests. The effects of Tru Blood X began to show. The delegates visibly relaxed and began to speak in Japanese among themselves, laughing and telling silly jokes. Eric could not be sure whether Bill was laughing at the strange Japanese humour out of politeness or he was just so drunk that he found it genuinely funny.

Sookie was patiently interacting with the guests, who seemed to become increasingly interested in her. Bill, encouraged by the X drink, would put his hand behind her back from time to time and caress her exposed shoulder. She would sometimes lean on Bill and smile at his jokes. Eric felt an immense jealousy at such moments. She looked stunning tonight and he couldn't stop staring at her. His eyes passed down from her mouth to her neck, then lower to her décolleté, stopping at her cleavage. He remembered the softness of her breasts pressed against his chest. The few sips of the X drink only increased his lust.

The Japanese sitting next to Sookie, Mr Abe, took an obvious interest in her, asking her questions, one after another. He seemed quite intoxicated with the new drink and Eric was watching him carefully. He could sense his interest in Sookie went beyond the usual chit-chat. The Japanese had a sleazy drunken smile on his face, insisting that she tells him, what kind of perfume she was wearing. He was leaning more and more towards her, as if trying to smell her. When Sookie was beginning to retreat, he tried to touch her hair. Before his fingers could reach her, Eric was already behind him and grabbed his hand. His fangs came out.

"Keep your hands away from the lady!" he hissed at the startled Japanese.

As soon as Bill realized what happened he stood up and commanded with authority: "Eric let him go, immediately!"

Eric stood there for a second and then let go of Abe's hand: "Certainly, my Majesty. I just thought your human felt uncomfortable, being examined so closely by your guest".

Bill:"She is under my protection, no need for you to worry about her!"

"I also see no reason why she has to be here in the first place," replied Eric sharply.

Bill: "I don't owe you any explanation, besides it is none of your damn business if and where she decides to accompany me."

Eric responded with increasing anger: "It's an unnecessary risk you are exposing her to!"

Sookie:"Stop it please, both of you, I'm okay, I'm sure Mr Abe didn't have any bad intentions."

Bill composed himself and sat down. Eric went back to his place, seeking from Sookie a silent confirmation that she was ok. That fool Bill is apparently too drunk to understand the seriousness of what just happened, he thought to himself in anger. Sookie did not say anything but he could detect gratefulness in her eyes. It was more than enough for him.

Fujiwara was now talking to his colleagues in Japanese. His tone was harsh and all the four Japanese listened obediently, keeping their heads down. He then addressed Sookie:" Dear lady I apologize deeply on behalf of Mr Abe. He is simply not used to such kind of beauty and he got carried away. Please understand and accept my deepest apologies. Onegai shimasu!" He stood up and bowed deeply towards Sookie.

Sookie was not used to such humble apologies. She looked at Eric, then Bill and said :"Sure, I understand. You have no idea how some of my customers in the bar where I work can be, Mr. Abe is a saint comparing to them. Apology accepted." She smiled awkwardly.

Fujiwara bowed again and sat back:"In any case its time for my colleagues to leave. But I would like to kindly ask you if you could stay with me for a little longer to discuss a certain matter."

Bill: "Of course, we are at your disposal Mr Fujiwara."

As if they never drank a sip from the X bottles, the four Japanese immediately stood up, bowed deeply in an almost perfect synchronisation and said their goodbyes. There was a clear expression of distress on Mr Abe's pale face, due to the incident he caused. However, as Eric observed, his distress seemed to be connected more to Fujiwara than to Sookie.

One can immediately see, who is the real boss here, thought Eric. _And now let's see what is the real purpose of this dinner._

After the four Japanese left, Fujiwara suddenly assumed a very serious expression, and all his cheerful attitude, he seemingly acquired by drinking X, vanished. He spoke with a slow and deep voice: "Mr Compton, dear lady and Eric san I am very grateful that you accepted this meeting on such a short notice, but you see, it is a very urgent matter I need to discuss with you."

Bill: "Yes, you told me it concerns Russell Edginton."

"I was starting to wonder when his name will pop up and thank you Bill, for informing me in advance about the main topic of the meeting," remarked Eric sarcastically.

Fujiwara continued, disregarding Eric's remark: "Indeed, it is so. That is why I also requested the presence of Miss Sookie and you, Eric san. According to our information the three of you are the primary target of Mr Edginton."

Bill paused, looked at Eric and Sookie and then said:"Your information is correct."

Fujiwara continued: "Let me get straight to the point. You see, JVL wants to get rid of Mr. Edginton as much as you do and as soon as possible. He is causing too many problems and his actions are affecting the fragile harmony of human-vampire relationships. The world order is currently in a very unstable state and we cannot let anyone upset it even more."

Eric:" If that's the case, why don't you people deal with him?"

Fujiwara:"We tried, but it is very difficult for us to operate unnoticeable on foreign territories. We recruited some independent agents, but it didn't work out. Mr Edginton is very powerful and has strong connections, especially in Europe. We believe he is hiding there at the moment. Besides, nowadays it is not so simple to kill a vampire without facing consequences. We cannot afford any diplomatic scandal and there is also the issue of legal authority. If Mr Edginton was in Japan, it would be of course much easier, but to mess with the internal matters of another league can be very problematic, especially when one is as sensitive to the usage of more harsh methods as our European colleagues are. If our sources are correct, and they probably are, Mr Edginton is not only hiding, but also planning and gathering resources to wage a war against main-stream vampires and humans. I don't need to tell you what disastrous consequences that would have for all of us. We simply cannot allow that."

Eric did not like the threatening tone of his last sentence. It sounded like an ultimatum.

Bill: "What would you like us to do? I guess you've heard we managed to imprison him once, but now that he escaped, there is no chance that we will be that lucky again. We are no match for him."

Fujiwara:"And what about Miss Sookie, could she..." Before he could finish his sentence, both Bill and Eric intervened at the same time.

Eric: "Out of the question!" Bill: "Especially not her!"

Fujiwara observed their reaction with certain amusement.

Sookie rolled her eyes at their protective behaviour and said: "Mr Fujiwara, I will be pleased to assist you in this matter in any possible way I can. Please note that I would do anything to protect my friends from this crazy maniac."

Bill:"Sookie..."

Fujiwara: "That is very brave of you my dear lady, I most appreciate it. In any case, as I wouldn't like to worry these two gentlemen, I was not planning to involve you unless necessary."

Eric became inpatient. "Just tell us already what do you want from us."

Fujiwara:" We know Mr Edginton is after all the three of you, but he especially wants you, Eric san, as he holds you responsible for his lover's death. We believe that eventually he will expose himself in order to get to you. He will probably try at first by sending some of his agents, to check out the terrain, if you know what I mean..." Fujiwara looked Eric straight in the eyes. "...but eventually, he will come after you personally. And it would be a grave mistake to hope that vampires like Mr Edginton might one day simply forgive or stop looking for you...I believe you have an expression in your language... you can run but you cannot hide..."

Bill: "There is nothing new you are telling us. What is your suggestion?"

Fujiwara: "We thought it would be much better and quicker that instead of us chasing the cat, we should rather just wave the mouse in front of its nose and have it come to us."

"And I suppose you want us to be your mouse?" asked Eric cynically.

"Kind of..." Fujiwara's lips twisted upward into a smirk. "But by the time the cat comes we'll make sure the mouse turns into a tiger."

Bill leaned back on the seat: "I'm sorry Mr. Fujiwara, we simply cannot promise you our cooperation in this matter."

Fujiwara: "I understand well your concern for yourself and your subordinates Mr Compton, but believe me it is not like you have much choice. Mr Edginton will seek you out eventually and the least you can do is to meet him prepared, wouldn't you agree?"

Bill:"We'll prepare in our own way, don't worry about us. I must insists at this point that you don't interfere."

Fujiwara:"What about Miss Sookie?"

Bill:"What about her, I thought we came to an agreement regarding her role in this matter."

Fujiwara: "Do you really believe you can keep her safe from Mr Edginton, without any help? But more importantly..." A malicious intent suddenly reflected in Fujiwara's eyes. "...do you really believe you can stop me if I decided to use her?"

Bill stood up:"I think Mr Fujiwara, this dinner came to an end."

Eric, realizing on Fujiwara's determination, said quickly:"Wait Bill...let's just hear what he has to say."

Fujiwara: "May I Mr Compton?"

Bill slowly sat down and gestured with a quick nod for Fujiwara to continue.

Fujiwara:"Basically, to a greater degree our plan involves only Eric san, but I wanted you Mr. Compton, to be present as well, because Mr Northman is after all your loyal subject and I would prefer to have your approval, before doing anything. You must however realize, providing Eric san agrees to it, the plan will be carried out regardless. And I'm sure you both understand that considering her role in the first imprisonment of Mr Edginton and the fact that she is also on his revenge list, I had to invite Miss Sookie as well. Our proposal is very simple. We would like to train Mr Northman, that is ...Eric san, to kill Russell Edginton."

There was a moment of silence among them.

Eric drooped his head and started to laugh in disbelief: "To train me? That's the best you came up with? I'm flattered that you think so highly of my abilities, but did your informants forget to tell you how old Russell Edginton is? He's twice if not triple my age." He leaned closer to Fujiwara: "Don't get me wrong, there is nothing more I would like to do than to kill that motherfucker, but even I am realistic enough to know that I'd last the most few minutes with him and I don't see any training changing that." He leaned back again. "Anyway, not that I want to brag or anything, but I believe I have sufficient experience in fighting and I really don't see how you could add anything substantial to it."

Sookie:"There is no need for Eric to deal with Russell alone. Mr. Fujiwara please listen to me, we can counter Russell if we all combine our strengths, we did it before and I am sure it can work again."

Fujiwara's focus was now entirely on Eric: "You were the most obvious choice for us, Eric san. You are the strongest vampire in the area, you are Mr Edginton's primary target and due to your high level connections and surely with the approval of your king, you won't have any problems in carrying out the plan, besides... you have nothing to lose."

"I do... my precious time." replied Eric casually.

Fujiwara:"Eric san, could we speak in private, just for a minute, please. We can go out on the balcony."

Eric had a feeling it would not be wise to decline Fujiwara's request, so he agreed.

Bill and Sookie remained at the table, while Fujiwara walked toward the balcony with his hands crossed behind his back and Eric followed him.

Once on the balcony, Fujiwara leaned on the wave like shaped top of the railing, and look into the distance. He seemed to be contemplating on something. "Eric san, you've met my assistant, Yuki, last night, haven't you?"

"I had the pleasure, yes, but if you think I owe her or you anything, you are mistaken. I never asked you to get involved."

"No, no, no, it's not about that. How old do you think she is?"

"What?" Eric was surprised by the question.

"How old do you think Yuki is?"

"Well, judging by her performance last night, she should be a considerably old vampire, I'd say..."

Fujiwara interrupted him: "She is half your age."

Eric looked at him in disbelief.

"She was made during the Sengoku, that is Warring states period in Japan, sometime in the mid 16th century. Yet, we both know she would split you in half in a second..."

Eric started to defend:"Well... I wouldn't put it that way, I wasn't exactly myself last night, if I was in my full strength..."

"She would still cut you down, I guarantee you that."

"What is your point?" Eric was getting annoyed.

"With proper training I can at least double if not triple your strength. Your chances when facing Mr Edginton will then increase greatly. You see, our strength grows automatically with age. But it is not so much the increase in physical power itself that makes the difference among the vampires. Our abilities, which we gain almost immediately after we are made, might seem enormous to humans, but among the vampires are not something special. What makes the difference is the awareness, experiences and knowledge, which we acquire over the years, decades and centuries of our existence. Just think how easy it is for you to submit younger vampires in a simple fist fight. You can easily predict their reaction, even before they become aware of it themselves. You know exactly what are they going to do and when, and therefore their movements seem like in a slow motion to you and easy to handle, isn't that so?"

Eric nodded in silence.

"That is also how Mr Edginton sees you. It is of course very hard to beat, as some would say, school of life, or existence in our case, but with proper training also a vampire can learn to perceive things quicker, sharpen his reflexes, learn to move faster, use technique to counter a superior force, and most importantly, learn how to consciously use...umm...the inner strength, which exists in all of us regardless of age and can be much more powerful than anything else."

Eric: "Let's say I believed in all this esoteric crap you just told me...Why me?"

Fujiwara:"You mean besides the reasons I told you before...well, lets just say I have a good feeling about you Eric san. In a thousand years of your existence, you have experienced a number of battlefields. You lived in periods when the world was constantly at war and everyone, including vampires, had to choose sides. Nowadays, vampires became slack. They prefer comfort and they are getting lazy, just like humans. They are overindulging in everything, which makes them weak. Few are those that still live by a certain code and have retained some discipline. And I believe, Eric san, that you are one of those few. Sure you play along with the law and order of the Authorities and you certainly know how to enjoy the spoils of life that came with the Great Revelation, but you are also stubborn and rebellious enough that when something really matters to you, you don't let anyone or anything to stop you on the way. Since I saw you fighting last night, I was convinced that we can actually make this work and perhaps even with a successful outcome for you."

Eric had to smile at the frankness of Fujiwara's last comment. He remained silent for a moment, considering his options.

Eric: "Ok, I'll do it, but on one condition."

Fujiwara:"If its within my power..."

Eric: "Leave Sookie out of this. She will not be used as a bait, nor for any other help in hunting down Russell. Also, you will provide her with full protection until and after my encounter with Russell, regardless of the outcome."

Fujiwara:"She is a guest in king's mansion, if I understand correctly. I'm not sure the king will be pleased if we interfere with his security.."

Eric: "It's not negotiable...and I'll need your word on this."

"She is a very special being, isn't she, and I feel she means a great deal to you." Fujiwara bowed deeply. "You have my word Eric san, I shall personally provide for a discreet protection unit that will follow her everywhere. Her safety will be my first priority."

Eric awkwardly bowed in return but the height difference between him and Fujiwara was such, that it seemed as if he just looked down on him. Fujiwara offered his hand instead. Eric shook it and said: "Let's return to the table and tell them the news. I hope we can both agree to share only what is strictly necessary."

"My thoughts exactly, "replied Fujiwara.

* * *

><p>Bill and Sookie were waiting in expectation.<p>

Bill was eying Eric suspiciously."What did you agree on?"

Eric: "Relax Bill, we made a deal that concerns exclusively myself and Mr Fujiwara." He leaned closer to him: "I accepted his proposal. He convinced me that it is indeed the best option right now... for all of us."

Bill still disturbed by Fujiwara's disregard of his authority said: "I guess in any case, I don't have any say in it, but if this is also your decision, Eric, and as long as you don't involve anyone else in this, you have my blessing."

Sookie: "Don't I have a say in this?"

Eric:"No, you don't Sookie. You made your decision some time ago, and now I made mine. I hope you can respect it as I respect yours."

The sharpness in his voice affected her deeply. He could see she was hurt by his answer. It hurt him too, but he wanted her out of the way, as far as possible, from this crazy plan he got himself into.

Fujiwara tried to reassure her: "Don't worry Miss Sookie, Eric san will be in safe hands with me and my assistant."

Eric: "Your assistant?"

"Yes, she will help me with the trainings. You cannot expect an old man like myself to run around with you kids, do you?" replied Fujiwara and laughed, expecting the same reaction from the others, but they all remained serious. Eric in particular.

"I haven't really expected that, but what the hell," said Eric with some resignation. He remembered that Yuki might be still in his club, which made him anxious and wanting to leave.

Fujiwara: "One more thing. This arrangement has to stay strictly between us. Nobody can be notified about it, not your superiors at the AVL not even the Authority. Any leak about this, could greatly endanger our plan as well as Eric's life."

Bill:"I understand. What about you? After all, you are a visiting diplomat, how will you explain your prolonged stay here? I suppose the level of your involvement in this matter, is already very problematic in terms of the Leagues' policy."

Fujiwara:"Let me worry about that, Mr Compton. Everything will be arranged. We don't plan to interfere beyond necessary." He turned to Eric. "Eric san, we shall commence tomorrow night. The address is *****. It's a street full of diplomatic residences, you cannot miss it. You will find ours at the very end. We shall start one hour after the sun set."

Eric: "Does it have to be so early, we have all night..."

Fujiwara:"Don't worry, this will be only the first training of the night... I will explain everything tomorrow." He smiled at Eric with satisfaction, as if he just concluded a successful business deal.

Eric was not happy about the old Jap dictating his schedule, but he decided, he will put up with it for a day or two and then he will find a way out of it. Its a small price to pay if he can keep Fujiwara away from Sookie and guarantee an extra protection for her. His first concern was her safety, he will deal with the rest later.

Eric:" In this case, I'm afraid its time for me to leave and go to see if Miss Yuki, finds everything at her satisfaction in my club."

Fujiwara: "Of course. I wish you a good rest and I'm looking forward to tomorrow! And please, if you see Yuki, tell her not to return too late, there are still some things I need to discuss with her!"

Eric stood up and turned to Bill and Sookie. He gave a quick nod to Bill and offered his hand to Sookie. She hesitated a bit, but she had no choice but to concede to his polite gesture. She gave her hand and he kissed it gently, looking at her a little longer. "Dear Sookie, I hope you find yourself at home in the mansion and that I see you soon again."

Sookie, feeling uncomfortable by his gentle touch on her hand, nodded without any reply.

"Don't worry, everything has been taken care of," added Bill, clearly annoyed by Eric's prolonged attention to Sookie.

"I'm sure it was," replied Eric with the same condescending tone. "Tomorrow then, Mr. Fujiwara," he waved farewell and left.

* * *

><p>Eric came out of the restaurant and sat down on the top of the stairs, feeling relieved. The meeting was heavy, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He managed to control himself well in front of Sookie, and even with Fujiwara it went better than he expected, considering the events of last night. Of course, he didn't trust him at all, but by staying close to him, he will at least have some control over his actions. Eric had no doubt that Fujiwara would not think twice to sacrifice Sookie, if that helped him to get Russell.<p>

Now he had another thing to worry about. Yuki! He was sure that her visit was not just another innocent coincidence.

* * *

><p>The valet boy was waiting with the keys near Eric's car. Suddenly he felt a gentle breeze and before he could notice anything, the keys in his hand were replaced with a 20 $ bill. When he turned, the red corvette already drove off.<p>

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

"Delete it."

"What, all of it?"

"Most of it, you should summarize your intent in one sentence only."

"One sentence, hmmm... what about the notes of the previous chapter?"

"Delete them all. Such explanations are redundant."

"Ok, so back to Fangtasia...was she there?

"She was there..."

* * *

><p>4.<p>

Eric parked the car in front of Fangtasia. He wanted to rush inside, but he resisted the urge. He knew it would be too irresponsible and risky in current situation to act impulsively and do things he might later regret. He needed to stay calm in front of her, even though he found it unusually hard to suppress his desire to really hurt her and wipe off that condescending smile from her face once and for all.

He loosened his cravat, took a deep breath and slowly exhaled the air that was coming in and out from his mouth without any real purpose. He just needed to be his usual cold and calculating self, as if the incident on the hill never happened. With that decision in mind he entered Fangtasia.

He came in through the guest entrance and went straight towards the bar. Lafayette was working behind the counter, serving drinks to already intoxicated humans, who were strolling around Fangtasia in hope of some interesting vampire related experience. While approaching, Eric could notice the usual tension soon to be replaced by fear on Lafayette's face. He found it amusing how easily Lafayette got intimidated by his presence.

Eric preferred to employ humans at his club. They were much more predictable and easier to control than vampires. Among Ginger, whom Eric always thought to be completely useless, but let her stay on Pam's request, and Ivetta, whose tasks were very specific and different from those of the usual employees, he grew quite fond of Lafayette and it wasn't only due to Lafayette's connections with Sookie, or their blood bond, which made him easier to control. He actually appreciated Lafayette for his "I don't give a fuck" attitude, when dealing with everyday difficulties he had to face for being a social outcast in this highly conservative environment. He was of course as appreciative as a vampire like himself can be toward humans. When it came to sexuality, the vampire society surpassed the human since long ago, and Eric had little tolerance for what he considered petty problems of humans.

"The car is outside the club," Eric dangled the key in front of Lafayette's face.

Lafayette carefully took it from Eric's hand, as if something else was about to follow.

"You seem nervous Lafayette..." Eric looked around, not really expecting an answer. The club was filled with humans and some random local vampires. He spotted Jessica among them. _She probably came to feed._ Eric smiled at the thought, knowing how much Bill disliked her feeding habits at Fangtasia. The air felt heavy and saturated with all kinds of human odours, cigarette smoke and other indeterminable stuff.

"Where is Pam?" he asked Lafayette.

"She was here a min...shit"

Pam didn't give Lafayette the chance to finish his sentence. "Were you looking for me, Eric?"

"Is she here?"

"She who?" Pam looked at him as if she had no idea who was he referring to, but her cocky smile gave her away.

"You know very well who I mean, Pam."

"Considering all your obsessions lately, one cannot be sure anymore. I take it the dinner went well?"

"Marvelously."

"Lafayette, where did the Jap go?" asked Pam.

"I don't know, I saw her in the crowd before and then she disappeared."

"Dammit Lafayette, I told you to keep an eye on her!" She looked at him angrily.

"How the hell am I supposed to keep an eye on somebody that moves faster than I blink!" replied Lafayette.

Pam frowned at him and turned to Eric: "She probably just went to check out the ladies' room."

"You don't say..." said Eric, looking at Pam disapprovingly for her slack control over the new intruder.

He leaned on the bar and began scanning the club. The music was getting lauder and more aggressive. The dancing crowd was moving faster, following the dense rhythm.

"This is dangerous..." the lyrics of the song suggestively echoed in his ears.

Suddenly, he saw her. She was slowly passing over the dance floor, elegantly avoiding unpredictable movements of the crowd, now aggressively twisting to the accelerating pace of the music. The tight black pants she wore and her particular way of walking with her head slightly bent downwards, gave her a thinner and gloomier look. Eric had the impression she was moving like a predatory animal advancing toward its prey. The hair that escaped her ponytail was almost entirely covering her eyes. Yet Eric could still feel her piercing stare, undoubtedly directed at him.

The music was now loudly pounding in the background.

Eric thought he heard Pam calling his name, but he did not want to redirect his focus from the approaching menace.

"ERIC!" Pam almost screamed in his ear.

He looked at her annoyingly: "WHAT?"

"Did you see her?"

"Yes, she is right there," he pointed toward the dance floor, but he couldn't find her anymore. Just as suddenly as she appeared she now vanished from his sight.

He leaned toward Pam: "Fuck! She was there just now. I want to find her as soon as possible and kick her bony ass out of here...she makes me nervous and in bad way!"

Instead of responding, Pam raised her eyebrows and suggestively looked over his shoulder.

Suddenly he hears a calm, slightly accented voice behind him.

"So I make you nervous, ha?"

Eric didn't move. His fangs came out, while still facing Pam. Shit, how the fuck did she sneak up on me like this, he wondered.

Pam gave him a sneering look, reprimanding him to calm down.

He took a deep breath, retreated the fangs and slowly turned around. She stood very close, and her green eyes, alert, fierce and playful at the same time, were probing him from under her loose hair. Eric glanced at her. She was in her usual ankle high shoes, only this time they were purple, wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon like image that matched the colour of the shoes and a short black leather jacket. Around her neck he noticed a necklace with a small pendant in the shape of some kind of flower. He found her dressing style a bit immature, and in this youngish like outfit he could hardly connect her with the image of the ferocious killer he saw last night.

"Miss Yuki, how lovely to see you again," he said sarcastically.

"The pleasure is all yours," responded Yuki, still standing very close to him.

"Charming as always," Eric added in the same tone.

"Did you make an agreement with Fujiwara sama?" she asked straight forward.

"I did".

"Too bad. I was hoping you wouldn't."

"I'm starting to regret it as we speak."

For a couple of seconds there was a kind of power play going on between the two of them, assessing who has more control, but he could soon feel her aggressiveness retreating and replaced by a more relaxing attitude. She was staring at him with those unusual eyes, decked out in black tones, which was also the only make-up she wore on her overly pale face. She seemed rather innocent and harmless, standing like this in front of him, but Eric could not shake off the tension and nervousness, when near her. He simply hated her for putting him again in such awkward situation.

"In the future, I'd prefer to be notified in advance when such esteemed guests like yourself visit my club," he said with a menacing voice.

"Eric, Yuki just drop by to enjoy a bit the evening, I don't see what's the big deal..."Pam interfered.

"Stay the fuck out of this Pam!"

Pam was surprised and slightly offended by his agressive tone.

Lafayette was following the whole conversation closely from behind the counter and started to worry about the tension that was building up between the three vampires. He did not want to find himself in the middle if things went in the wrong direction.

Eric was waiting for Yuki's reply, but she just stood there in silence. It seemed to him like she turned even paler and just for a moment he thought that maybe he was too harsh with her. She slightly leaned forward and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Are you ok Yuki?" Pam asked, noticing a nauseating expression on her face.

""Don't worry Pam, I'm fine, anyway I was just about to leave," said Yuki quietly.

"Besides..." she continued, leaning even closer to Eric. "Your club sucks! It has no karaoke, no pachinko machines and the food around here is just awful. Its oily and heavy and it makes my stomach turn." She covered her mouth again and this time it looked as if she was trying to prevent something from coming out.

Eric raised his eyebrow and instinctively leaned backwards, but before he had a chance to say or do something, he felt blood splashing over his face and shirt.

All of them remained still for a moment, including Lafayette, who was too surprised to continue with his chores behind the bar.

"Gomenasai...I...I'm sorry..." said Yuki, slowly regaining her usual paleness. "I was just saying about the food here..." She fluttered her eyes innocently and sighed with relief. "I feel much better now."

Realizing on what just happened and seeing the puzzled expression on Eric's face, Pam had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing.

Eric wiped the blood from his face with his hand and directed a contemptful stare at Yuki.

Yuki, now obviously feeling better, leaned over the counter to Lafayette, who automatically moved a step backwards to keep what he considered a safe distance.

"I just need a hankie, please," she said politely, smiling at him.

Lafayette took a pack from the drawer and gave it to her.

She wiped her mouth clean and then offered the rest of the pack to Eric.

He nonchalantly took the hankies from her hand and started to clean the blood from his face and clothes.

Both, Pam and Lafayette were now trying to avoid Eric's angry stare as they could hardly contain themselves from bursting into a loud laughter.

Yuki was still standing there as if expecting some kind of courteous response from Eric. He didn't want to make it easier for her by acknowledging in any way that it was just an unfortunate incident, so he kept looking at her severely without saying a word.

"Well then, I'll be going," said Yuki with some disappointment in her voice.

"Please do." He crossed his arms defensively over his chest and turned away, ignoring her presence.

"Pam it was nice meeting you and I hope we have a chance to see us again."

"Sure Yuki, drop by anytime, its been a while since I had so much fun."

Yuki bowed and in the same instant appeared behind Lafayette's back, whispering to his ear: "Bye Lafayette." Her sudden displacement almost caused Lafayette to drop a glass. She giggled and by the time he turned to face her, she already disappeared from the club.

Eric gave Pam a scolding look: "What the fuck Pam!"

Pam just smirked and shrugged.

"Shit, I ain't be messin' with her that's for sure...and what the fuck is a pachinko machine, anyway?" asked Lafayette still looking around to make sure that she was really gone.

Eric was extremely annoyed. "I'm glad to see you two are having so much fun on my account. I will make sure to remember this when she goes berserk and you'll come to me crying for help."

"I think you are wrong about her Eric, she can be quite charming," said Pam provocatively.

He walked away dismissing her comment with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, whatever...send Ivetta downstairs."

"Hmmm, interesting..." Pam grinned. "There is something about her...I've never seen anyone making Eric so edgy in such a short time..."

"She is one crazy bitch that's for sure, but whoever does this to Eric and gets away with it, is my kind of bitch," said Lafayette and continued washing the glasses.

"Well, lets see how this plays out. I'll question him later anyway. Now I better get Ivetta, before he becomes even more cranky," she smirked again and left.

* * *

><p>Eric was laying on his king-sized bed, thinking about Yuki. She surely had a talent to annoy him and it wasn't just because of her patronizing and smug attitude, which alone was a good enough reason for not liking her. It was almost as if he had developed some kind of allergic reaction and every time he was near her, he felt like a bull with a red cloth waved in his face. Besides, he somehow kept getting into these tragicomic, humiliating situations with her, which seem to be completely beyond his control. He couldn't remember when was the last time somebody threw him off balance like this. Fuck, how will he ever put up with her in the coming nights, he wondered while staring at the grey ceiling of his vault.<p>

He had enough of Yuki for the night, and slowly he let his thoughts wander off to Sookie. He closed his eyes, evoking the image of her at the dinner. She looked so lovely. Her hand felt so soft and delicate when he kissed her. Her smell was ecstatic. He was ready to kill that delegate when he tried to touch her.

Thinking about her made him aroused. He waited eagerly for Ivetta to come.


	2. Chapter 2

5.

Eric opened a heavy iron door and stepped into a dark corridor illuminated by a single torch attached on the humid wall few meters away from the entrance. Before he realized, he found himself walking down the corridor leaving the gloomy light behind. He simply knew he had to continue forward, as if some mysterious force was leading him further into this, now almost dark passageway. He could not shake off a premonition that something bad was about to happen. He picked up the pace and started to run. He felt the cold and moist air filling up his lungs. The corridor seemed endless. Soon he got so tired he had to stop. He was gasping for air, almost chocking from the lack of it. As he exhaled, he noticed a white smoke coming out of his mouth. His breath was warm and it condensed as it left his body. He felt sweat dripping from his forehead. How can that be? He touched his chest, his heart was beating strongly. He was shocked, but there was no doubt - he was human again. He felt that presentiment again. He had to hurry. He ran faster, ignoring the pain in his lungs. His human body was rebelling against such strain. Suddenly, out of nowhere Godric appeared in front of him. He tried to stop but the momentum from the speed caused him to stumble and he smashed against the wall of the corridor, hurting himself substantially.

"My child", he heard Godric's voice echoing through the darkness, his image fading away. "Don't go there..."

The pain Eric felt now as a human was much worse, and the injuries did not heal. He was exhausted, and his skin was burning from scratches. He managed to pull himself up against the wall. He could smell the mouldiness and feel the drops of water as he leaned his face on the cold stone surface. He was whispering to himself: "Its not real...its not... I'm sorry Godric...I must continue..."

He was running again, almost in panic from his dark premonition. Suddenly he saw a small light flickering. As he came closer he found himself in front of another iron door. The light was coming from beneath it. It was the end of the corridor and there was no other way to continue.

Eric opened the door and rushed into the room. It was a large room enclosed by walls of bare natural rock. It felt stuffy and humid, just like the corridor. His chest was aching and he was breathing rapidly. For some reason he could not see clear and he could hardly discern the objects in the room. But he could feel that something evil was permeating these walls of stone. He closed and opened his eyes a couple of times and his vision slowly became sharper.

He noticed a tall man dressed in black standing about three meters in front of him. He was wearing a scarf over his face, revealing only his dark almond shaped eyes with thick eyelashes and prominent eyebrows, typical for men of middle-eastern descent. His stare was directed at Eric and his eyes were filled with hatred. Eric knew the man was a vampire. Two black werewolves were moving impatiently back and forth by his side. Just behind them, slightly to the right, where the floor was elevated into a small podium, another person was standing with his back towards Eric, wearing a long black cape, with a hood over his head. There was something unpleasantly familiar about this person that made Eric move forward to see the face, but before he could take another step, the two werewolves changed into a human form and grabbed him by his arms, holding him firmly on the place. The person in the cape turned, removed his hood and started to laugh loudly. Upon recognizing his face, rage surged in Eric. It was Russell. He tried to escape the tight grip of the werewolves, but his human strength was not nearly enough to overcome the huge beasts.

Russell tilted his head back and laughed even more at Eric's attempts to free himself. Then he spoke with malicious voice: "Eric Northman, she is waiting for you." He stretched out his hand as if presenting a show and stepped aside.

A massive throne was revealed behind him and, to Eric's immense horror, Sookie was sitting on it.

She was completely naked, her white flesh illuminated by the few torches in the room. She had a steel collar around her neck, which was attached closely to the throne. Her arms were seemingly resting on the sides of the chair, but Eric noticed that her wrists were bound to the throne by leather straps. Her legs were tied together with a metal shackle placed tightly around her ankles, making it impossible for her to move at all. She was just sitting there, immovable, looking like some sort of a creepy porcelain doll, devoid of any signs of will to escape the iron grip of this medieval device. Her face was pale and her eyes reflected a cold blue stare, as if all her vivacious spirit was drained from her completely. She didn't even blink.

Eric was not able to cope with despair that such sight provoked in him. He felt he was going berserk. His cry echoed through the cold walls of stone: "SOOKIE! LOOK AT ME SOOKIE! I'LL GET YOU OUT OF HERE!"

She didn't move nor she seemed to notice him at all.

He lowered his head in desperation."What did you do to her! Damn you, I will kill you this time I swear!"

Russell grinned revealing his fangs, unusually long and bestial.

Eric tried again, using all his strength, to free his arms from the werewolves, but all his attempts proved useless.

He shouted with all his might: "SOOKIEEEE! ITS ME! I CAME TO SAVE YOU! LOOK AT ME DAMMIT!"

Her eyes flickered. She slowly moved the head, as much as her iron collar permitted, in his direction. Her eyelids closed and open again. She was staring at Eric as if just awaken from a deep sleep. Then her mouth opened and she let out a scream that was so intense and full of anguish that sounded almost inhuman. She wouldn't stop. She screamed continuously.

Eric felt desperate and helpless. He could not bear to see her like this. He looked away from the agonizing scene, and saw his human father sitting by the wall. "Revenge, Eric!" he shouted. Eric turned to the other side of the room. He saw Godric again. "Forgiveness, my child!" Godric's soft voice was suppressed by demonic laugh of Russell.

He looked towards the throne again and saw Yuki standing right in front of him. Her white face was smeared with blood. "Yuki, help me. Kill them!" he pleaded her. She was looking at him with an expression in her eyes, he could not understand. Then she spoke quietly with her usual calm voice, which he could barely hear over the screams of Sookie: "You are not ready yet."

As soon as she pronounced those words, Eric saw the tall vampire approaching her from behind holding a wooden stake in his hand. He wanted to warn her but it was too late. The stake penetrated her from the back and exited her front body through her heart. A sparkle passed her green eyes just before she burst into pieces.

"NOOOO!" She was his last hope.

The vampire's eyes burned with malignant satisfaction. He nodded at Russell who seemed to shiver in ecstasy each time Eric cried out in pain. Russell moved closer to the throne. He exposed his bestial fangs to Eric in a malicious smile and violently sank them deep into Sookie's bare breast, starting to feed from her.

Eric thrust forward and uttered a ferocious roar. He found himself sitting straight up in his bed, still breathing heavily from the intensity of the dream. He felt his fangs out, and he touched them just to make sure they are there. "It was just a freaking dream!" he said out loud to reassure himself. Slowly he regained back his calmness. Still the unpleasant feeling that there was something more to it, lingered on his mind. He decided to visit Sookie right away. He could feel that she wasn't in any immediate danger, but he needed to see her and make sure that everything was ok.

He dressed up and went looking for Pam. He hadn't spoke to her since last night. He was a bit annoyed by her lenient attitude toward Yuki, so he spent the rest of the night with Ivetta. It's been a while since he invited or rather ordered Ivetta to join him in his vault, and last night she showed him how much she missed it, in various very imaginative ways. He drained her considerably, but he also made sure she got her share of him in return. She wanted more, but frankly he was more into feeding than fucking last night. Nevertheless, Ivetta was a welcome treat. The release of tension that built up in him after seeing Sookie at the dinner, made his mind peaceful and more focused, and despite the terrible nightmare, he felt ready for tonight's meeting with the two Japanese.

He found Pam in the office behind the desk, organizing some papers.

"Hey Eric, in better mood tonight?" asked Pam still submersed in paper work.

"I had better awakenings ..." replied Eric.

Pam looked up from behind the desk. "Its not about Sookie again is it?"

"No, I mean yes, but not in that way. Never mind." He decided he won't let some twisted dream to destroy his evening. "Anything new?"

"I need you to sign these papers. Its about the tax report...hopefully this time won't be any problems."

"Don't worry, everything was arranged."

"Yes, regarding that guy, that helped us out last time..."

Eric signed the papers and handed them back to Pam. "Wouldn't worry about him either."

She leaned forward and looked at him attentively.

"Tell me you didn't do something stupid, Eric."

He tried to avoid her inquisitive eyes. "Of course I didn't. I really don't need any silly problems to preoccupy my mind now. Listen, I have to go to Fujiwara."

"Yes, I know, he called as soon as the sun set. I barely woke up. He wanted to make sure you won't be late. So what is that all about? "

He raised his eyebrow and said wittily: "I would have thought that Yuki, you two being such good friends now, told u all about it."

Pam smirked. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you're jealous..."

Eric frowned at her. "Believe me, I'm not. In fact, I sincerely hope she feels better today so she won't have any excuses when I break her joints at the training. Finally your new friend will get what she deserves."

"Oh, you mean the one that killed a whole pack of werewolves when you were lying unconscious and then carried you back home?"

"She was just lucky, it wasn't my best day."

Pam smiled. "Have you at least eaten enough, I still wouldn't like to see you getting hurt."

"Don't worry. Ivetta was very generous last night." A playful smile revealed his upper teeth. "Where is Lafayette? I need the car. I want to save every bit of my strength for Yuki."

"He's downstairs at the bar...with Ivetta."

"Ok then. I'll be going. Keep up the good work Pam." He winked at her and left.

She rolled her eyes and got back to the papers.

Ivetta was sitting at one of the tables and when she saw Eric, a flirtatious smile appeared on her lips. It was her way of hinting that she wouldn't mind to go downstairs again. He appreciated her sexual appetite, but his interest in her right now was no different from the interest he had in any of his other employees. For a human he found her amusing, but no more than that and her constant availability allowed him to use her according to his needs, be that sex or feeding, without having to take her preferences into account.

Lafayette came out of the storage room carrying packs of bottles.

"Lafayette, I need the car...and leave it here for a while as I'll be needing it also in the coming days."

"Shit Eric, I cannot do without transportation. I need a car not just for myself but also for the work around here," Lafayette complained while passing him the keys.

Eric put on a thoughtful expression. "Hmmm, I guess you are right. We'll have to take care of that somehow." Then he strolled off, leaving Lafayette wondering what exactly he meant by that.


	3. Chapter 3

6.

The guard signalled Eric to continue through the open gate. He proceeded driving slowly on the narrow road that led up to Bill's mansion. Armed guards were strategically placed around the garden to cover all the important points of entry. Eric noticed an increase in Bill's security personnel. He looked attentively to see if any of Fujiwara's men were among them, but they all seemed to be part of the king's security team. He was going to question Fujiwara later if he was keeping his part of the deal. He drove up to the entrance and parked the car. The two guards at the door were already notified by their colleague at the main entrance of his arrival and they respectfully moved aside as he entered the mansion.

He went straight to Bill's office. Bill was sitting behind his desk going through some papers. He seemed rather displeased by Eric's unannounced visit. Without looking up he said: "Eric, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. I hope whatever brings you here is important, because as you can see I'm very busy."

Eric sat down and made himself comfortable in a large armchair.

"I came here to warn you about Russell."

"I see...any new developments?"

He was not planning to reveal the whole story of what happened on the hill that night, especially not to Bill. But he still felt he had to warn him somehow, for Sookie's sake.

"Kind of. I received some very reliable information that his operatives are here."

"Here where? You mean in Louisiana? That's old news."

"I mean here, in Bon Temps."

The information caught Bill's attention. He looked up and addressed Eric in an authoritative tone: "Eric if you know something concrete you better tell me."

"I just did. Don't let Sookie out of your sight, understood?"

"There is something else...what is that you are not telling me? " Bill insisted.

The fact that he was facing a king, bore no relevance for Eric in such moments. There was some kind of unspoken agreement between the two of them to respect the current state of affairs, set up after the queen's death. Even though he could easily aim higher, Eric wanted only to keep his position as a Sheriff and in return he was willing to comply with duties to the new king. But when it came to delicate matters, especially if they concerned Sookie, he could not care less about Bill's superior status.

He stood up from the chair, approached the desk and directed a cold stare down on Bill. "I told you everything you have to know. I came to warn you, so that you make sure that nothing happens to Sookie. Don' let her go anywhere without extra protection...better if she stays inside the house most of the time."

His intense blue eyes reflected a calmness of a man that knows he is in control.

"Besides," he added as he assumed his usual laid back attitude, "I'll probably be busy in the coming days, so I won't be able to watch her closely."

"I'm always watching her closely. I'd die first before anything happens to her. But you know all that. Why are you really here, Eric?" asked Bill becoming increasingly annoyed by Eric's intrusive behaviour.

Eric ignored his question. "Where is she now? I'd like to see her."

"So, that's the real reason." Bill's eyes lit up and suddenly he felt empowered. He turned his attention back to the papers and said: "If there is nothing further Sheriff, you are free to go."

"Where is she Bill, I just want to make sure that everything is ok."

Bill would usually not object, but Eric's lack of respect and his overly self-confident attitude, provoked him to decline his request.

"I said, you are dismissed!" he repeated assertively, finding a great pleasure in denying Eric what he wanted most.

The jealousy Bill felt about the little love affair Sookie and Eric had during Eric's loss of memory still lingered in him and right now he was really fed up with Eric always getting in his way and dictating him what to, even in his own house.

Eric was furious. Not only he felt like he was practically pushing Sookie into Bill's arms, but now Bill was also using his love for Sookie against him. He hated it, but he knew he had to comply. At least for now. He left the office, without any word, closing the door behind him with an excessive force.

He was about to exit the house when he felt her closeness. The door of one of the rooms near the entrance was ajar and he peeked through into the large living room. From the other side of it he could see another door opening and Sookie came in, wearing a robe and drying her hair with a towel. She noticed him immediately and greeted him with a big smile.

"Eric hi! What are you doing here? It's nice of you to drop by."

Eric was taken aback by her display of hominess in Bill's house. She gave the impression like she's always been living here, and not moved in just a couple of days ago.

"I see you quickly settled in," he said, jealousy written all over his face.

"Oh, stop it Eric..." she responded, giving him a slight playful push on the shoulder.

The touch of her hand made him move closer. He fixed his eyes on hers as if he wanted to glamour her. She just came out of the shower and Eric could hardly ignore the possibility that she might be naked under her not very long light pink bathrobe.

"Going somewhere, Sookie?"

She felt mesmerised by his hushed deep voice and his nearness provoked in her strong contradictory emotions of her body rebelling against her reason. She could so easily loose herself in those big ocean eyes, pleading and commanding her at the same time. As the memories on their love making started to drip in, her principles were slowly melting away. She felt her knees soft and she wished he would touch her.

Her excitement made his even stronger. He felt his fangs sliding out and his lips slightly spread. He too was remembering their time together. She was so close and her smell was pure ecstasy. He sensed her desire, but instead of pursuing it, he pushed his fangs back in, before she could notice them. It was a painful sensation to retreat the fangs when they were already sliding out, but he managed to do so with considerable self control. His lips closed and he remained in front of her as if some thin invisible barrier was standing between them. He wanted her to make the decision.

She was struggling and he was waiting patiently...

"Echm..." one of the house servants was standing at the entrance of the room.

She immediately broke away from him.

"What is it?" she asked in a rather unkind tone.

"I've just came to notify you Madam, that the dinner will be ready in half an hour. It will be served outside on the balcony as ordered by the king."

"Thank you," she said with a trace of guilt in her voice.

The servant nodded and left the room.

"A dinner out on the balcony...mmm...how romantic. You better get ready." Eric said, his tone intertwined with sarcasm and jealousy.

"Why don't you join us Eric?"

Her question sounded so sincere and innocent as if she was completely oblivious of the tension that existed between him and Bill over her.

"Thanks, but I'm quite sure Bill wouldn't like that."

"Nonsense! And even if that was true, I invite you, and you will be my guest," she continued to tease him.

Eric had to smile at the prospects of seeing the expression on Bill's face if he'd actually agreed to this. It was surely tempting to ruin Bill's dinner plans, but he decided he was not going to give into her whims.

"Perhaps some other time, Sookie. I have made arrangements, with Mr. Fujiwara, remember..."

Her cheerful expression changed to a serious one.

"Eric, are you really going to go through with that plan? I'm still not convinced its a good idea. I don't trust this Fujiwara. "

"Sookie, its a done deal. Don't even bother to convince me otherwise."

"But Eric, I'd really prefer you'd stay here as well."

"You would like that, wouldn't you."

"What's that suppose to mean?" she looked at him frowning.

"Eric, I thought you left already..." said Bill coldly, standing at the entrance to the living room. He was clearly displeased over Eric's prolonged presence in his house.

"You have loyal staff, I see," Eric responded. "I was just about to leave." He turned back to Sookie and gently passed his hand over her cheek: "Stay safe and please be careful."

The unexpected touch of his fingers caught Sookie by surprise and it took her time to mutter something in return: "Sure...and you...you better be careful with those Japanese vampires." A confused expression appeared on her face.

He smiled at her, stalling, to be near her just a little longer.

"Eric!" said Bill impatiently.

His eyes met hers one more time before he headed toward the door. He walked past Bill, almost brushing against him. "Enjoy the dinner," he said dryly. A wry smile graced his lips as he exited the room. She was his today, even if only for a moment.


	4. Chapter 4

7.

Eric felt exalted after his visit at the residence. It was just what he needed to rid himself of the disturbing images from the nightmare. There were no signs that Sookie might be in any imminent danger. Quite the opposite, she looked serene and more than glad to see him, and the way things played out was beyond his expectations. His mind kept going back to the moment they shared in the living room. If only they had a bit more time alone, he would surely tasted her. But even so, he felt energized just from the possibility of it.

He glanced at the car clock and realized it was almost two hours after the sunset. He was late. The daydreaming about Sookie distracted him for too long. He needed to clear his mind and focus on his next visit. He didn't know what to expect, but he wanted to be well prepared for anything. He was not going to make a fool of himself in front of the two Japanese again.

He pressed the gas pedal and sped up, leaving the king's residence far behind.

* * *

><p>Driving fast, which Eric enjoyed very much, saved him some time. He turned into a street and checked again the address Fujiwara gave him. The address and the street name matched. He was in the right place.<p>

The street was quiet and full of fancy residences, all of them protected by walls or fences. Some of the residences had flags, indicating clearly the country of origin and the diplomatic status of the owners. Eric wondered which of them belonged to vampire and which to human diplomats. It was impossible to differentiate between them, at least from the outside appearance. He found Fujiwara's residence last on the street, slightly removed from the rest. It was surrounded by high concrete wall, which made visible only the roof of the house. He stopped at the large gate and got out of the car. There was no guard, just a small intercom camera on the fence of the gate. He pressed the button and almost immediately a clear and laud voice with a heavy Japanese accent came through the intercom speaker.

"Who is it?"

"Eric Northman. I'm here at the request of Mr Fujiwara."

The voice said nothing, but the gate opened. Eric jumped in the car and drove inside. The house looked like any another diplomatic residence. A simple yard stretched in front of the house with few rose bushes and some smaller trees scattered around. Eric looked for security guards, but didn't notice any. Strange, he thought, he would expect at least a few.

He walked up to the entrance and pushed the bell. A small Asian woman opened the door, bowed and beckoned him to proceed forward. She led him just few steps ahead, without saying a word, and stopped in front of a sliding door. She slid it open and moved to the side for him to enter. The door opened into a small room, elevated about half a meter from the floor, he was currently standing on. He wanted to step inside, but the Asian woman pulled him by the hand and pointed towards his shoes. At first he wasn't sure what she meant by that, but then he saw few pairs of shoes placed neatly together just in front of the door and understood she wants him to remove his as well before entering the room. A pair of purple army like boots didn't escape his attention. As it was quite impossible to imagine those boots on any of the gray suit Japanese diplomats, he was pretty sure they were Yuki's.

_So, she was here. _

He removed his shoes and entered the room. The woman closed the sliding door behind him.

The floor was made of tatami mats, and it felt pleasantly soft. The room, illuminated by candles, was practically empty, except for the low wooden table in the middle. A small shelf was attached to a very thin wall, holding a vase with a simple flower arrangement. A Japanese scroll painting graced the wall just above the vase. There was another sliding door on the opposite side of the room. Eric was standing there, not knowing if to proceed through the other door or wait for somebody to come first. He felt awkward and was about to sit down, when the second door opened and Fujiwara came in.

"Eric san! I'm very glad you arrived. Please follow me."His voice was vivacious, but he seemed hurried. Eric followed him out of the room into a long hall that split in three directions leading straight ahead and to the sides, the left one ending with a staircase. He realized that the residence was much bigger than he initially thought.

Fujiwara was quickly striding in front of him. In his perfectly pleaded hakama of grey and black colour, it seemed to Eric, like he just came out of an old samurai movie. They passed a number of sliding doors on the way, hinting to several rooms behind them.

"It's a big house you have here, Mr Fujiwara."

"Oh yes, well it belongs to JVL of course, and various diplomats are hosted here when on official business. Currently, its just me and Yuki, and some of the staff."

"So, Mr Abe and the other colleagues are not staying here?" asked Eric provocatively.

"No, they already left. They are visiting several other states across the US. I believe their next stop will be Texas."

Eric chuckled.

"I'm sure Yuki will be happy to show you the house later on, but right now we have to hurry and begin with the training. You came late so we'll have to adjust the schedule accordingly."

Eric detected a slight reprimand in Fujiwara's voice. He found the fuss about his delay a bit exaggerated, but he guessed Fujiwara being an old man, probably kept a steady routine and was not very flexible when things didn't go exactly according to the plan. Or, he was just very meticulous about the time. Either way, Eric decided he wasn't going to make an issue out of it.

The natural colour of the thin walls with sliding doors, absence of furniture or any other decoration and the soft tatami floor, made the interior of the house look genuinely Japanese. The candles provided a warm and cosy light to the place, and their pleasant unintrusive scent was felt all over the house. Apart from the slightly low ceilings, Eric felt unusually comfortable and at peace in this minimalistic setting.

The hall ended with another sliding door. Fujiwara opened it and they stepped outside on a wooden platform slightly elevated above the large open yard, which extended out in the back of the house. The backyard was surrounded by concrete wall in front and thick bushes on the sides, and was accessible only from inside of the house.

Fujiwara gazed out on the yard. "This is going to be your training ground for the next...well, as long as it will be necessary," he said proudly and grinned.

Eric looked up to the sky. The moon was almost full, when he first met Fujiwara on the hill and now, two days later, when the moon reached its peak, he was standing on the porch of his house.

"The moon is lovely isn't it? We can later have moon viewing, if there will be any time left," said Fujiwara, admiring the sky densely packed with stars.

Not really interested in what the moon viewing actually meant, Eric attentively examined the surroundings. The ground of the backyard was covered with fine grained gravel and on its right side he noticed another smaller wooden platform of about five square meters that stood on its own. The porch itself was about three meters wide, and extending at least twenty meters along the house. Above it, the roof was prolonged just enough to provide a partial cover.

As his eyes followed through the length of the porch, he noticed Yuki sitting quietly at the very end of it. She was leaning with her back against the wall, knees pulled up and arms leisurely placed on the top of them. Her eyes were lurking in the dim light of the evening and she seemed completely unaffected by his presence.

"Well then, lets begin.," Fujiwara said and clapped his hands together with satisfaction. "Yuki, come here!"

Lazily she got on her feet and approached them. She was dressed in the same outfit like Fujiwara but hers was made of a much rougher fabric and was completely white. As she came closer, Eric noticed earphones in her ears and she was holding a tiny electronic device in her hand. Dull and bleak expression on her face gave him the impression that she was here only because she was duty-bound. He could immediately feel the familiar, unpleasant tension building up in him, but he decided, he will not let her spoil his good mood this time.

"Yuki, you look like you had a bit of a rough night...perhaps Fangtasia was not to your liking?" he said cynically, rising his left eyebrow at her. She ignored him, took out the earphones, and bowed to Fujiwara. Eric smirked at her disaffected face.

"Please Yuki, get the swords," said Fujiwara.

"Hai," she said quietly and disappeared inside the house.

"The swords?" asked Eric, clearly not expecting this kind of training. "Are we going to fight with the swords?"

"Yes, I shall teach you to become stronger, in every aspect, through the way of the sword. I guess, you are probably used to different kind of swords, but it doesn't really matter. The shape of Japanese katana only slightly differs. Anyway, at the end, what decides the victory is not the kind of weapon you hold in your hand, or any weapon at all. It is all here.." Fujiwara pointed at his head. "..and even more here," he placed his hand on the left side of his chest. "All the rest are just different tools to help you on the way to a higher understanding of deeper principles in life."

He put his hand reassuringly on Eric's shoulder. "So, all I'm going to ask from you, is that you try to keep an open mind about this, and trust me."

The sword, Eric thought... it's been a while. He had an immense respect for swords. It used to be his first and favourite weapon as a human. It had a charm that other, especially modern weapons, never had. Already as a human he was a remarkable swordsman, and he excelled in it even more so after he became a vampire. But as the usage of the swords died out on battlefields, he also put them aside. His vampire strength was more than sufficient in the current world, and in any case, for the past century to walk around with the sword was not really an option.

A small precious collection of swords, carefully stored in the basement of his estate in Sweden, came to his mind. They were all memorabilia from the numerous battlegrounds he engaged in. He could not remember when was the last time he examined it, but he now wished he had it here, at his disposal. Not that he had any problems with handling a Japanese sword, but he saw it as a missed opportunity to finally remove the dust from some of his favourite swords and put them again to good use.

Eric wasn't sure if Fujiwara was aware that fighting with a sword will only make it easier for him. He almost felt guilty for the advantage he will now have over Yuki. Yes, she was an expert swordsman herself, he saw that two nights ago, but in his full strength she didn't come even close to his level. He had half a millennium more of sword-fighting experience and he never really believed Fujiwara, when he spoke of Yuki's superior fighting skills over his. What happened on that hill was not a real demonstration of what he was capable of and today he will have a chance to prove that.

"Sure no problem," he answered Fujiwara with a smile. "But there is one more matter I want to settle first. The arrangement we made, regarding Sookie, has it been taken care of?"

"I gave you my word, Eric san. As of today, everything is in place."

"Ok, then. I'll be happy to proceed."

"Great! I prepared some spare training clothes for you, similar to what I'm wearing. You will find them in the room to the left and you can change there as well."

"Thank you, but I really don't think that will be necessary. I'm quite comfortable in my own clothes," he politely declined Fujiwara's offer. He was certainly not going to put on that ridiculous skirt like outfit.

"Are you sure? The training session might easily ruin them."

"Don't worry about that."

"At least let me offer you a tabi, so you won't have to be bare foot."

"Really, I'll be fine, thanks! Let's just start."

"Ok, as you wish Eric san." Fujiwara smiled at him and turned towards the house. "I wonder why is Yuki taking so long?"

After a minute of uncomfortable silence between the two of them, Yuki finally reappeared at the door, carrying two wooden swords.

A bewildered expression set into Eric's face. "You want us to fight with these pieces of wood? You are joking, right?"

"This is called bokuto. It's a Japanese wooden sword. It is a practising sword but you should always treat it as a real one in order to..."

Eric interrupted him: "I see no reason for using practising swords. We are both experienced swordsmen. So, unless Miss Yuki has some objections, I suggest we go straight to the real thing."

He then turned to Yuki, slightly tilted his head to the side and continued with a smug smile: "If you are worried I might cause you too much harm, don't be, I used my sword way before you did and I assure you I can control it very well."

He could tell his words had an effect on her. For just a second her eyes lit up and her lips spread as if she was about to say something, but then she held back at the last moment. The gloomy attitude took over her again.

"Whatever...", she rolled her eyes at him, as if the whole matter does not concern her at all.

"Eric san, I'm afraid I must insist on this. To practise with a wooden sword is very common in Japan and is not regarded with any less respect than using a real sword. But I can understand, how you feel, so I propose the following. Lets' use the bokuto for tonight, and see how it goes. We can then later switch to real blades, if you still wish to do so. Would that be a good compromise for you, Eric san?"

Eric didn't like it. He found it patronizing and slightly insulting, but he knew that arguing with Fujiwara would be a waste of time. The old man was a stubborn bastard, he could see that much. As he was eager to start and even more to finish, Eric agreed.

Yuki passed him a white wooden sword in the shape of katana. The edges were thick and completely unsharp. Hers was the same, but of black colour.

As he took the sword from her, he couldn't help to asses her disinterested behaviour. She seemed void of any excitement and completely relaxed but in a creepy and unnatural way, considering the expected confrontation. Her usual intense focus was not quite there, and he wondered if her current state had to do something with her visit at Fangtasia. When he saw her last night, she was somehow different from the Yuki he met at their first encounter. While she was still incredibly annoying, she seemed a bit more approachable and interactive, even if only in her own twisted way. But now, she just looked energy less and dispirited. Perhaps it was the food, or the lack of it? Whatever the reason, it was going to be much easier to deal with her than he thought. He will throw her around a bit, maybe break a bone or two, so she will need some time to heal, which would bring the training to an earlier end. Maybe just maybe, he could give her some slack this time. He did not like to use excessive force, unless really needed.

Fujiwara stepped closer to him and tried to adjust the sword in his hands. "Let me just show you how to hold a Japanese sword. I suggest in the beginning you hold it with both hands. You place your right hand forward, almost to the guard and left at the base of the hilt... yes, yes, like this...this is just the basic grip, later when you will get used to the sword, you will find your own way to hold it..."

Eric felt funny being treated as a student. He knew well how to hold a sword, but Fujiwara really seemed to enjoy himself explaining it, so he let him. It briefly brought back the memories on his human father. He received his first sword from him when he was still a child. 'Your path is that of a warrior, my son, and you must follow it till the end'...the words of his father remained imprinted in his soul. If only his father knew, for how long he had followed that road. And now he was faced with it again.

"Relax a bit the elbows, perfect...You are a natural, Eric san." Fujiwara's mouth widened into a big smile and he seemed genuinely pleased with Eric.

"Now I want to see you fighting. Just do it in your own way, and afterwards we shall correct and improve what is needed. Yuki will be your sparring partner, and please don't hold back just because she is a woman."

Eric smiled. The fact that she was a woman was completely irrelevant to him. He could only perceive her as an opponent and her adverse personality prevented him to even think about her in any other way. He considered her strictly in terms of stronger or weaker, and he was going to play according to that.

"I will be sitting over there, to have a better view," said Fujiwara and pointed to the small platform. "Wait for my sign, I will call "hajime" to start...and good luck!" He gave Eric a pat on the shoulder and grinned.

Eric observed Fujiwara while he was putting on the Japanese wooden clogs and strolled casually towards the small wooden stage, his hands folded behind his back. He seemed quite sincere and harmless in his enthusiasm about this whole training plan. But there was something more to that unusual old man, something that Eric could not quite put his finger on, and, at least for now, it kept him interested.

Eric removed his socks and stepped down from the porch. He could feel the small stones against the soles of his feet, but they were grinded so finely, that it didn't bother him at all.

Yuki jumped down just behind him, elegantly, without making a sound. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Eric felt a change in her energy and focus.

She passed him closely and said with a chilling calmness: '"Please try to make it interesting, at least for few minutes."

Eric tightened his grip on the sword. The wave of adrenaline shot through him. There she was, the Yuki he met up on the hill. Cold, unapproachable and ruthless. In a way he was glad. At least he won't have to hold back.

She positioned herself about five large steps opposite of him. The wooden sword was in her right hand, pointing towards the ground. She looked relaxed, almost to the point of being indifferent, but he knew, remembering her encounter with the werewolves, that this seemingly casual stance can be very misleading, and that she was fully alert.

Despite Fujiwara's insinuations, he was still sure he can easily cut her down. She was agile and sneaky as a cat, but when it came to his millennium old brutal force, such sophisticated techniques would not work. She won't even know what hit her.

His killer instinct was awaken.

An impish smirk crept on the edge of Yuki's lips as she lowered her head slightly, covering the neck with her chin into what could be a defensive or defiant posture, maintaining the eye contact with Eric at all times.

He, in his dark modern clothes and she, in her white traditional uniform, looked like two opposite poles about to collide. Eric was so completely focused on Yuki that everything else faded in the background. He couldn't understand why, but nothing seemed more important to him in that moment than to prove himself to her.

"HAJIMEEE!"

He heard Fujiwara's shout as if coming from far away. His fangs came out with savage visceral force.

In literally the blink of an eye, he killed the distance between them, swung up the sword high above his head and brought it down in an incredible speed and force, with both of his hands, above Yuki's head. She didn't flinch, but just as his sword was about to connect with her skull, her eyes sparkled and next thing he knew he was cutting through an empty air with his wooden blade. Then something strange happened. He thought he heard Fujiwara shouting "Yuuukiii! Noooot the..." and at the same time he felt as if a whole building collapsed on the back of his head. All the sudden the beautiful starry night sky he admired just few minutes ago, somehow inverted, and he find himself slowly falling into it.

"What the hell..." he managed to utter before the ground hit him hard on the face.


	5. Chapter 5

Notes:

When you went there for the first time, did you really expect to learn something new?

No, not at first.

But you still went?

Yes, because of Sookie.

Only because of her?

I guess I was also a little bit intrigued.

What changed then?

Eventually...everything.

* * *

><p>8.<p>

Eric was struggling to open his eyes. He never thought that a simple act of lifting the eyelids could be such a painful experience. When he finally managed to open them he found himself staring at the tatami floor. His head was leaning over an oval pillow, placed under his front neck and he was lying face down on his stomach, on a thin mattress. It was a strange, uncomfortable position. He wanted to lift the head to look around, but as he bent his neck backwards, he felt such a pain on the back of his head that he was afraid he was going to pass out again. He immediately lowered his head down to the initial position and tried again to lift himself, this time using his hands for support and moving the head as little as possible. It was still painful but manageable.

He sat up on the mattress and by turning his whole upper body, rather than just the head, he looked around. The room was not much different from the entrance room, with almost no furniture, except for the small low table in the middle. A paper lamp hanging from the ceiling and a candle on the table provided enough light for the whole room. Quite immediately he noticed Yuki, sitting cross-legged in the opposite corner of the room. She had earphones on and was following his every move with interest.

Eric touched the back of his head. It was swollen and even the slightest press of his fingers caused him a blinding pain. There were pieces of something hard stuck in his hair and as he pulled one out he saw it was dried blood.

"How long was I passed out?" he asked, trying to remove the rest of the dry blood from his hair.

Yuki continued to stare at him without answering. Eric reminded himself to stay calm and patient and gestured her to take out the earphones. When she finally took them out, he repeated the question: "I said...for how long was I unconscious?"

"About three hours."

"Three hours?"

"A broken skull takes time to heal."

"You broke my skull?"

"Yes."

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"Ummm...," she looked up to the left, avoiding his stare. "...I guess, because I could. Besides you were about to break mine."

It was then that he noticed a huge red stain on the upper part of Yuki's white kimono.

"Is that my blood?" he asked, knowing already the answer.

She pulled her garment slightly forward and looked down on the stain as if she hasn't noticed it before. "Yes, that's your blood." Her eyes looked worrisome, trying to assess the damage. "Damn, it will be a pain in the ass to clean all this. But anyway, as we have another training, I'll rather wait and change the clothes tomorrow." She grinned and glanced at him meaningfully.

"A second training tonight?" asked Eric, still feeling the painful consequences of the first one.

Instead of replying to his question, she got up and disappeared from the room.

Eric took a sigh. He felt miserable. He couldn't quite process what happened in the fight. Yes, he was too cocky and he underestimated Fujiwara's warnings...and Yuki, but the reasons why the things went wrong were much more fundamental than that. It was the way she controlled the fight from the beginning...there was no doubt that he was stronger, even faster, yet he somehow could not get even close to her. He wanted to try again, despite the pain, to seek out his weakness.

In the midst of his contemplations, Yuki returned with a tray in her hand. She approached him slowly, looking down as if feeling guilty or shy, and offered him a cup from the tray.

"Fujisama said to bring you this."

His eyes were questioning her about the content in the cup.

"Drink it, it will make you feel better," she said, her discomfort visibly growing with each second she stood near him. It was as if this simple gesture of care somehow did not fit into her natural behaviour.

He sensed her relief as he finally took the cup. Yuki placed the tray on the table, took the second cup and immediately retreated to her corner. She lifted the cup with both hands to her mouth and began to sip from it slowly, observing him from the comfortable distance.

Eric was wondering if this drink was another invention of the Japanese or just regular blood. The cup was similar to the ones Fujiwara brought with him to the restaurant, only bigger and wider. He took a sip. It was warm, thick and undoubtedly human blood, but it had an odd bitter taste. It reminded him on the fish oil, an important part of Vikings' diet, the taste of which he quite hated.

"You should drink it all, otherwise you won't last much," said Yuki from the corner.

"What is it? It tastes like shit, don't you have some proper blood? Even Tru Blood would be better..."

"You have to acquire the taste. Once you do, you will be able to appreciate it."

His scepticism did not wane, but he had to admit that so far Fujiwara was right in just about everything. So he decided to go with the flow this time and drank up the whole cup. Yuki, slightly surprised by his sudden act of obedience, stopped sipping the blood from her cup and stared at him, bewildered. When he grimaced at the bitter taste, her lips curled up into an unsure smile. Eric grinned back, trying to find a comfortable way of sitting on the floor. His long legs were somehow getting in the way, but at the end, he settled for the same cross-legged position as Yuki.

Yuki continued to sip from her cup and Eric had to admit that when quiet like this, he found it almost bearable to stay in the same room with her. The red stain of his blood on her kimono, however, reminded him not to get too comfortable in her vicinity. He was surprised that so far she didn't even mentioned her victory over him. He was expecting at least the usual condescending talk from her, but instead she seemed fairly considerate in her own way.

After sitting in silence for few minutes, Eric thought it would be a good opportunity to find out a bit more about Yuki and especially Fujiwara. It was obvious to him she was not the type to start a conversation, so he had to take the initiative.

"I suppose you are happy with the outcome of the training?" It felt awkward, he wasn't used to initiate small talk conversations either.

Yuki lowered the cup from her mouth and said: "Not particularly."

"Why is that?" asked Eric, in slight disappointment, expecting a more enthusiastic answer from her.

"There was nothing exciting about it. Fujisama just wanted to teach you a lesson, we both knew how it was going to end."

"It still didn't prevent you from breaking my skull, though..."

"Would you feel better if I responded with any less force than you used in your attack?"

Eric lowered his eyes. "I guess not," he said quietly. It was hard for him to accept that the win meant almost nothing to her, while the fact that he lost, made such an impact on him.

"Look...not that I care much, but I did that to spare you from further humiliation. I don't always agree with Fujisama's ways..." suddenly said Yuki.

It was obviously not easy for her to say these words and although Eric found it amusing that she actually felt responsible for his distress, he really didn't want to go down the pity road, and he quickly changed the topic.

"So is your maker, Fujiwara..."

"He is not my maker."

Not her maker? That's unexpected, thought Eric.

"So, what is he to you?"

"He is my teacher and my master..."

"But not your maker?"

"No."

"I see...is he your king or of a superior position?" He felt like he had to drag every word out of her.

"We don't have kings...he is...a daimyo...its like...like a lord."

"How old is he?"

They could hear the sound of the sliding door opening and the look in her eyes warned him not to continue with the conversation. As Fujiwara entered the room, Yuki immediately stood up and bowed.

"Eric san, I'm glad you are up! Feeling better already?" said Fujiwara with his usual cheerful voice.

"I do actually, thank you," responded Eric. It quite annoyed him that Fujiwara's sudden arrival interrupted the conversation with Yuki, just as he was about to get some information on him. He noticed however, that during their little chat, the pain was entirely gone and he felt completely recovered from the heavy blow. That bad tasting blood really works miracles, he thought to himself.

"Good, very good. So we can continue then. Yuki here, was a bit too eager to finish off early, and had plans to go out, so she a bit exaggerated in her attack..." said Fujiwara, giving Yuki, who was still standing obediently with her head down, a scolding look. "But I knew you would recover fast and I insisted she keeps an eye on you...till you do," he said with malicious smile.

Eric thought it a bit unfair from Fujiwara to blame it all on Yuki, after all he was planning to do the exact same thing himself. It seemed though, as if Fujiwara outsmarted them both in the end.

Intrigued by Yuki's power and wanting to discover what he missed in the first round, Eric was quite happy to continue with the training. "I'm ready," he said coldly, not to appear too eager.

"Well then, the backyard is waiting!" Fujiwara proceeded out of the room. Eric quickly glanced at Yuki, who gave him a brief look in return. He could see that she was not at all as enthusiastic to continue with the training as he was. He waited for her to join Fujiwara and then followed them both into the corridor.

* * *

><p>Eric found himself again under the clear night sky, standing bare feet on the grained gravel. This time he had another strategy on his mind. He was going to be much more careful, observing Yuki more attentively and wait for her to make a move.<p>

Yuki gave him the bokuto, and Eric accepted it without any objections. It was clear to him now, it didn't really matter much, what kind of sword he had in his hands.

Fujiwara tied something around Yuki's ponytail and said: "This time I'll add a rule. Nobody is going to break any skulls or aim at the head at all. The healing of such injuries just takes too much of our time. Is that clear?" He looked at Yuki, who nodded in agreement, keeping her head down. "And of course it goes the same for you as well, Eric san", he added. Eric knew he included him only out of politeness.

Suddenly a tinkling sound was heard. Eric noticed its coming from Yuki and its somehow connected to her movements

"Wait, what is that?" He looked accusingly at Fujiwara. "Is that really necessary?"

"I attached small bells to Yuki's hair. In this way you will be able to hear her, when she moves. And yes, it is quite necessary." Fujiwara grinned and Eric began to wonder if he devised this training with the sole purpose to humiliate him.

Eric turned around indignantly and walked towards his position. He could hear Yuki moving to hers, as the tinkling sound gently followed each of her steps.

Fujiwara was already sitting up on his little wooden stage and soon he called to begin. Yuki immediately charged toward Eric. He was expecting her from the front, but suddenly she vanished from his sight and in the next instant he could hear the bells behind him. He turned, but it was too late. She hit him with the sword on the legs with such a force that swept him to the ground. He stood up immediately and went after her, but again she disappeared and the whole thing repeated. He could hear the tinkling sound all around him as her strikes were coming in fast and hard. He went after her each time, but she always managed to evade his sword and hit him in return. Sometimes it was on his legs, sometimes on his upper body or across his back, but not once her sword touched his head.

Eric felt like he was chasing a wind. He was hurting and he was getting weaker, while Yuki seemed just as fresh as when they started. A heavy blow to his stomach put him on his knees.

"YAMEEE! Stop, please, stop..." Fujiwara shouted angrily, jumped from the wooden platform and approached Eric.

"Eric san, you are focusing too much on yourself and about what you want to do. You are not seeing your opponent at all. You are over-relying on your sight, which prevents you to sense your opponent's movements early enough. You have to focus on the sound of the bells and follow that, understood?"

Eric nodded, resigned to the fact that none of his ideas to counter Yuki worked so far. He wasn't getting her movements at all.

"Good, lets continue." Fujiwara walked back to his place.

Eric managed to recuperate some of his strength during the short pause. He took a deep breath and composed himself. So the bells' sound...lets see if that will make any difference.

Yuki came at him again. He heard the bells, but as she came closer and he saw her strike coming towards him, he stopped following the sound and moved to block. Once more, as he moved forward, the expected strike did not occur, and she disappeared. Soon enough he felt a blow over his back.

"Focus on the bells, Eric san..." he heard Fujiwara shouting.

_Dammit, the fucking bells._ Eric was now pissed. He half closed his eyes and tried to single out the sound of the bells. It was hard and he used all his focus to keep track of it. He saw her approaching menacingly and was tempted to move into defence. He resisted it and kept listening to the bells. Suddenly she disappeared and he was sure she moved to his right, but the tinkling sound was coming from the left side. Despite his reason telling him otherwise, he abruptly turned to his left and instinctively parried her strike in the last moment. He was so surprised that he managed to repel her attack in time, that he forgot to continue. Yuki was surprised as well, but that did not distract her from immediately moving to the next strike, which connected with his legs and caused him to fall flat on the ground.

He was staring at the stars from the horizontal position again, but this time he didn't mind it at all. He got her, he finally got her. He knew it was just a small victory and he felt silly to rejoice at it so much, but he just couldn't help himself._ That damned, foolish old man was right_. Finally, he made some progress and he knew that once he understood the principle behind it, it's going to be easy for him to apply that in the fight.

He stood up and they started over. It took him a tremendous effort to follow the tinkling sound, but each time it became a little easier. He could now foresee and parry most of her first attacks, no matter how sneaky they were, but she still always got him on the second strikes. Her technique was superb and he spent too much energy focusing on the bells.

Each of her attacks was like a challenge for him. He tried again and again to strike her after the first block, but couldn't do it. It was as if she knew exactly what he was going to do and always responded with a perfect strike before he did. Just as he felt he understood her move, she changed it again. It went on like this for a while and he completely lost the track of time. As he was getting weaker, his frustrations grew stronger. Yuki's every move still seemed effortless. He was getting irritated, at her and at himself. He even considered to simply let go of the sword and subdue her with physical force.

"YAMEEE!" Fujiwara's shout echoed through the night.

Yuki immediately stopped and retreated. Eric still wanted to pursue her, but Fujiwara appeared at his side and placed his hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Excellent Eric san. I'm afraid, we have to finish for tonight. It's getting late and the sun will be up soon. If you want to get home, you have to leave now. You are also most welcome to stay here, if you'd like. I can have the guest room prepared for you."

"Thank you, but I think I'll rather go home."

"As you wish. We meet tomorrow at the same hour. Please try not to be late." said Fujiwara and looked up to the sky. "Too bad we didn't have the time for the moon viewing. Perhaps on another night," he shrugged regretfully.

Yuki already disappeared inside the house. Eric was still in the fighting mood. He wasn't happy with the way it finished and he felt like he needed just a little more time to turn the fight to his advantage.

"You fought well, Eric san...", said Fujiwara as he was accompanying Eric to the entrance room. "...but you still need to focus on your opponent more. Please think about it, before your sleep. It's important to go through the mistakes again in our head. It's like an additional practise."

Fujiwara's positive talk and his weird advices irritated Eric more than inspired and all he wanted at this point was to go home.

"Till tomorrow night then," said Fujiwara as they arrived to the room and strolled down the hall.

The small Asian woman was waiting for Eric near the entrance and after he put on his shoes, she saw him to the door.

* * *

><p>Pam was sitting alone behind the bar, calculating the daily cash flow of the club. All the customers left already. She was planning to go to her room downstairs, as soon as Eric returned. She was nervously glancing at the clock. <em>Where the hell is he?<em> If he was planning to sleep elsewhere, he would surely have let her know.

Pam knew about the training, but apart from some basic information, all she got from Yuki last night was a reassurance, that Eric was in safe hands with Fujiwara. She had mixed feelings about Fujiwara's plan and Eric being a part of it. Her female intuition told her to beware of Fujiwara and in order to ease her worries she did some research on the old man.

First she tried to get some information through a couple of her AVL friends, but they couldn't find out anything useful. All their Japanese colleagues came up with the same information about Fujiwara being a diplomat of a special JVL convoy, and did not want to elaborate any further. That was suspicious enough for her to call up a source, connected on a much higher level, somebody that owed her a favour. That somebody had personal connections in Japan and provided her with some interesting data. Apparently, it was highly unusual that somebody like Fujiwara engaged in a mission abroad. His status was way above any diplomatic corps and if he was involved personally it could only mean that the matter must be of utmost importance. Not much was known about him except that he was a daimyo, some kind of military lord in western terms, and that he belonged to the highest elite of vampire political order in Japan. Her source told her that his local informants reacted awkwardly when he mentioned Fujiwara's name and that even this scarce information was hard to obtain.

She was not planning to reveal her discoveries to Eric yet. They were too vague and she knew he wouldn't like that she did the research without consulting him first. It was clear though, that Fujiwara was much more powerful than he appeared to be. Surely catching Russell was important, but was it that important to the Japanese? Considering all this, she wondered if there were some alternative motives behind Fujiwara's interest in Eric.

As the night was coming to an end, Pam was growing anxious that Eric, stubborn and provocative as he was, did something that pissed Fujiwara off. An angry, powerful Japanese military lord was the last thing that Eric needed now.

The entrance door of the club opened abruptly and Eric came in. He looked a mess. His clothes were dirty, torn, stained with blood and, with the exception of his shoes, he was covered in dust from head to toes. His eyes were overflowing with energy and stuck out on his dust-covered face like two glittering lakes in the desert.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Pam, shocked and relieved at the same time.

"Nothing. Tomorrow I'll be leaving early again. Make sure that everything runs smoothly around here while I'm away, will you..."

"Eric..."

He kicked the door to the basement open and disappeared before Pam had a chance to say anything else**. **She leaned her head upon her hand and sighed; the whole thing was becoming much more complicated than she expected.

* * *

><p>Minutes before the sunrise, Eric was still busy reflecting on the training. He went over the fight in his head again and again. Why couldn't he strike her back...The dew sparkled in the early rays of the sun and the images of Yuki's white uniform, stained with his blood, slowly receded in his mind as he fell into a deep sleep.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

9.

It was near the end of another training night, and Eric returned home as usually in the past five days, just before the sunrise. He felt as if these nights passed as one. Since the first day he started the training, he spent all his time at Fujiwara's house, following the exact same routine, night after night: training, a short break to heal and regain the strength, and then training again, until one hour before the daybreak. Exhausted, mentally and physically he then drove back home, rethought about the training for a while and soon fell sound asleep.

The lessons were so intense that they completely absorbed his mind. It almost felt as if he was living in another world, consisting of Fujiwara, Yuki, strangely calming furniture-less house and bitter blood, served in painted cups. Even when he returned to Fangtasia, he could hardly concentrate on anything else. He was living completely in the present moment and all he could think about was Fujiwara's advices on his fighting or how to avoid Yuki's next attack. All the rest somehow did not seem to matter.

Only when Pam told him, that Lafayette had news regarding Sookie, he realized how easily the trainings distracted him from other important matters. He had to admit, that even Sookie was absent from his mind during these days, but the moment Pam mentioned her name he remembered she was actually the reason why he got involved in this in the first place. Without Sookie none of this would make sense. Suddenly strong feelings of missing her returned to him, and he was eager to hear the news from Lafayette.

* * *

><p>Lafayette waited all night for Eric. Pam notified him about boss's new schedule and while Eric's absence allowed Lafayette to pass his days calmly and without any major upsets, the one thing bothering him was the fact that each time Eric took his car.<p>

Lafayette liked that car more than he was willing to admit. He wasn't really a materialist type of person, but he appreciated a genuine beauty and quality. And the red corvette was one of his few if not the only possession that had both. Sitting in that comfortable leather seat and steering the wheel of his fancy car, made his otherwise simple lifestyle, with which Lafayette never completely settled, bearable.

Obviously, he was not going to argue about it with Eric, who lately seemed to be completely disconnected from everything club related. However, he thought that by giving Eric some news about Sookie, he might at least bring the car issue to his attention. So, he did as Eric requested, and went to Bill's mansion to visit Sookie.

When he was finally called to his office, Lafayette found Eric engrossed in thought. The feeling of nervousness crept upon him as he stood in silence in front of his desk. No matter how many times he had to face him, each time Eric's presence made him feel uncomfortable. He sat down and waited for Eric to address him.

"So, Lafayette, I hear you have news for me?" said Eric without any greetings or adequate small talk.

"Yes, I do. I went to see Sookie, to Bill's house, as you asked me to."

Eric lowered his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table. It was still hard for him to accept that she was staying at Bill's house. "How is she?" he finally asked.

"Well, I went there during the day of course, and she was very happy to see me. Apparently, Bill insists that she goes out as little as possible, to avoid unnecessary risks. She doesn't want to upset him, so she spends most of her time inside the house, alone, especially during the day. She showed me around and I tell ya one thing. I wouldn't mind to live there at all. The house is a beauty. I'm quite sure it wasn't Bill deciding on decor. His taste is way too dull for something like that. The man has a freakin spa in the back of the house and the TV room looks like a small cinema...to host a party there would be..."

"Lafayette...I'm not interested in the interior design of Bill's house ..." said Eric impatiently.

"Of course not...I'm sorry. What I wanted to say is that despite all this, Sookie still looked bored as hell. We had a tea on the balcony later on and she wanted to know everything that's going on around here, in Fangtasia. She asked me about my job and if I'm being treated well, which of course I said I couldn't have wished for better...and then she asked me about you."

"About me?"

"Yes, she was quite curious about how are you spending your days lately... I mean nights..."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth, really. That I haven't seen you much in the past few days and that you spend almost all the time at the house of that old Japanese. She even asked about his crazy assistant."

"Yuki? What about her?"

"Just the usual... if I met her, how is she like... She seemed genuinely worried about your connection with those Japs...was I not supposed to tell her about that?"

"It doesn't really matter...go on."

"Then she kept talking about Bill and how he is so over protective and how much he tries to make her feel welcome in his house, surprising her with special dinners or gifts, how he always feels guilty when his royal duties keep him away, but that she understands it and so on...at the end she said she misses her house and she doesn't like to depend on others for her safety. She also said that she would be very happy if you'd take some time off from those Japanese and come to visit her from time to time..."

"I see..."

Eric's eyes beamed with emotion.

"But, there is more," Lafayette continued. "As we parted with Sookie, I ran into an old acquaintance of mine at the door and it turned out she works in the mansion. She invited me for a coffee and of course for some good old gossip. And man, she told me some interesting shit."

Lafayette paused for a second, expecting to arouse some more interest in Eric, but Eric's expression remained the same.

"So...she said that the king was lately getting upset quite often and would sometimes lash out at some of the staff for no particular reason. She speculated that his behaviour has to do something with the fact that every night the king accompanied Sookie to her room, expecting to be invited in, but instead she would just dismiss him at the door. He would then return to his office, clearly in a bad mood. She also told me that last night she heard them arguing, and that at the end Sookie stormed out and locked herself in her room."

"Did she hear what were they arguing about?"

"Not entirely, but she heard Sookie saying that she wants to go out of the house, and your name came up during the argument as well. She could only hear the laud parts of their conversation from the hall. But you know what all this means don't you?" Lafayette leaned back on the seat and grinned. "It seems like the king ain't gettin' any.."

A subtle smirk appeared across Eric's lips.

"Lafayette...well done. Keep in touch with Sookie and let me know of any changes immediately. If she goes anywhere tell me. If I'm not here, notify Pam about it, is that clear?"

"Yes, sure..." responded Lafayette. Eric's positive response encouraged him. "Eric, regarding the car..."

"I'll take care of it by tomorrow."

Lafayette did not expect such a prompt answer. "Great...I...I really appreciate that."

Eric returned to his own thoughts, disregarding Lafayette's presence.

"So...am I free to go?" asked Lafayette carefully.

Eric responded with a dismissive gesture of his hand and Lafayette was more than happy to comply.

* * *

><p>Lafayette returned to the bar. He expected more enthusiasm from Eric upon hearing the news, knowing how much he disliked Bill, but the important thing was that he completed his task and he was getting back his car tomorrow. Perhaps Eric will show his appreciation by giving him an even better car. Although the red corvette was hard to beat, there were few other models that intrigued Lafayette's imagination. With a glow of contentment in his eyes, Lafayette walked out into the early morning and headed home for some good sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Eric was waiting for the already familiar voice over the intercom to address him with the question, that was always the same. After he responded, the owner of the voice, who was still unknown to Eric, opened the fence and let him in.<p>

It was his seventh day of training and apart from Yuki, Fujiwara and the small old lady, that each time awaited Eric at the door to make sure he took off his shoes, he never saw or met any other soul, inside or outside the house. He found it a bit strange, but he felt it would be somehow improper to inquire Fujiwara directly about this, or any other matter.

Fujiwara was quite unapproachable for discussions and rarely spoke about anything else than the training. Neither had Eric a chance to find out more information from Yuki. Since his first visit, he was never again left alone with her. During the breaks, Fujiwara was always present and the conversation, if there was one, revolved around fighting techniques, how to improve them, or they had to listen to Fujiwara's strange philosophical monologues.

Eric was vigilant, but respectful towards Fujiwara. He could sense Fujiwara's power, even though he never displayed any of it. It was almost as if Yuki was a good enough proof of his capabilities and it was unnecessary for him to engage personally. Only on few occasions when Eric clearly failed to listen to his advice, he would come down from his wooden podium and demonstrate to Eric a proper way how to do it. Such direct lessons always ended painfully for Eric. Fujiwara's strikes or grips were not only precise and impossible to counter, but were administered in a way to cause as much pain as possible, as if the old devil knew the exact position of each nerve.

Despite his unusual and occasionally brutal approach, Eric had to admit that Fujiwara was an excellent teacher. In short time, his fighting abilities improved immensely. Yuki could not sneak up on him anymore. He easily followed the sound of the bells and with that her movements. He would sometimes cause Yuki to stumble back with strong blocks of his sword, but she was back on her feet before he could follow with a strike. He still could not advance beyond the point of her sword, but he felt he was getting closer with each practise.

Fujiwara did not try to change much his way of fighting. His input on Eric's technique was minimal and at times he would even praise some of his moves. His advices mostly dealt with more basic principles of fighting. For a while Eric had a hard time to figure out Yuki's tempo and adjust fast enough to the changing situations. His senses and even his instincts guided him wrongly. On the other hand it seemed like Yuki can read him as an open book.

Fujiwara showed him what gives him away, so he could be a little less predictable and he indicated him the rhythm of Yuki's strikes, so he could block them more often. It was hard for Eric to tune his heart and mind to the Japanese way of fighting. It differed greatly from the styles he was used to, in many aspects. Slowly he understood, he had to discipline his every emotion, thought and instinct on a completely different level, while at the same time seek out these weaknesses in his opponent, if he wanted to succeed against Yuki. And this was not a simple thing to achieve, even for somebody as experienced as Eric.

His body became used to numerous hits and broken bones. What hurt him most was however, his pride and ego, burning with frustration. Yuki could play the game for a while, but at the end the final strike was always hers.

During the breaks, all the three of them would sit quietly in the resting room, sipping the bitter blood. Fujiwara would sometimes give additional explanations to Eric, using metaphors from the Japanese poetry, especially haiku. Eric simply nodded, but the truth was that such explanations barely made sense to him. He was not used to Eastern approach that so easily connected art, beauty and philosophy with killing. What he remembered from his experiences, especially with the sword, was the brutality of such acts. Engaging in a sword fight meant to kill violently from a very close distance and he could hardly see anything poetic in severing the limbs, slashing through the flash or cutting off the heads.

Yet Fujiwara could find an utmost beauty in one perfect fatal cut of the sword. He often reprimanded Eric during the training that his strikes or movements, even when efficient were too messy and ugly or that his posture looked bad and praised Yuki's fighting style as an example of real beauty. At first Eric could not care less about such remarks, but slowly he noticed that the beauty and elegancy of Yuki's moves somehow connected with efficiency. He began to pay more attention to Fujiwara's poetic metaphors and sometimes found himself unintentionally thinking about their meaning before his sleep. Still, he was convinced that at the end of the day it was the ruthlessness, more than anything else, that determined a battle to death.

Yuki appeared rather distant throughout the training sessions. During the breaks she sat in the corner, sometimes with her earphones on, sipping the blood and quietly observing Fujiwara and Eric. She would never speak to Fujiwara or interrupt him with questions during the training or resting time. Eric knew the Japanese adhered to strict behavioural codes, especially when it came to student-teacher relationship, and he tried to keep these rules as much as he could, although occasionally, and despite the reprimanding looks from Yuki, he would still ask Fujiwara questions about the things that interested him. One of his questions concerned the bitter blood they were drinking each night, and he was told that the blood was received from some kind of professional donors. These donors got paid for their blood and had to keep a very special diet, mostly consisting of fish and sea food, which made their blood extremely healthy and consequently beneficial also for vampires. Fujiwara stressed that such practices required an enormous discipline from a human, and therefore could be done only if they consent to it freely. The healing effects of the blood were indisputable, but even when taking into consideration the obvious cultural differences, Eric was still doubtful that humans in Japan would agree to such practices without any additional pressure from their respective customers.

For the seventh night in a row Eric stood ready to face his usual opponent on the backyard of Fujiwara's house. On this particular night his mindset was different. He was thinking about Sookie. The news he received yesterday from Lafayette were a balm to his ego, but more important than that, they put all his actions into perspective. He was not here to prove the Japanese how good he was or to soothe his hurting pride by winning over Yuki. He was doing this to be able to protect Sookie better and he knew he was running out of time. He had to focus and try even harder to improve as much as he could, without his selfish ambitions getting in the way, before Russell came after him or even worse, after Sookie.

"HAJIIME!" Fujiwara's laud shout cut through the quietness of the starless night and opened the first training session of the evening.

Eric gripped tightly his white wooden sword and followed the sound of bells. He repelled Yuki's first attack, then the second, the third...suddenly it was all coming so easy and natural to him. Yuki put all her strength in the next strike. He blocked her with unexpected speed and lightness, but the outcome of the clash between their swords was such that she flew few meters away and had to break her fall with a roll on the ground. Eric was surprised at the strength that channelled through his sword, as he put no force in it at all. Yuki was back on her feet, slightly annoyed by what just happened and came at him again. In no time she flew backwards, even further than the first time.

The bells made it almost too easy for Eric to predict her movements. He felt relaxed, and suddenly began to see openings in Yuki's attacks. He still could not exploit them, but he was getting close. She had to switch to defensive stance as he continued to strike faster and more precise, pushing her backwards. He did not feel tired at all and he could execute his strikes with an unforeseen speed and strength. His body was moving in complete accordance with his mind.

Yuki started to retreat. A little bit more and he will get her. Suddenly she looked towards the house, and completely let her guard down. Eric seized the opportunity and struck towards her without any hesitation. She blocked in the last moment, her eyes widened a little and he detected nervousness in her. It was clear she made a mistake and he will have her on his next strike. His eyes lighted up. _Finally!_

"YAMMEEE!"

Yuki suddenly lowered her sword and stood in front of him completely exposed. If her move wasn't so obvious, he probably would not have been able to stop himself from smashing her head. He was still standing ready, with his sword above his head, when Fujiwara appeared on his side.

"Eric san, please forgive me but I have to take care of some urgent matter. Have something to drink in the resting room meanwhile." He quickly retreated to the house, before Eric could say anything.

_A break? Now?_ Eric could not understand it. _What was so important that Fujiwara stopped the practise in such a crucial moment?_

Yuki disappeared as well and Eric remained alone in the backyard. He found it odd. It was too early for the usual break, and they never left him like that before. He went inside to the resting room and found a tray with three cups of blood on the table. He took one and made few sips. After some time passed and there was still no sign of Yuki or Fujiwara, he decided to look around.

The resting room was one of the rooms near the exit to the backyard, so he walked through the main hall towards the front of the house and turned right at the end of it. He arrived to the staircase and proceeded stealthily**.** His vampire hearing picked up voices coming from upstairs. He reached the top of the stairs and peeked from the corner. He was standing at the beginning of another corridor with more rooms and sliding doors. He could hear Fujiwara's voice coming from a nearby room. He was speaking in a very serious tone, raising voice from time to time. Another man was replying him with very short sentences. Eric wished he knew Japanese. It must have been an important meeting if Fujiwara cut short his usual training routine.

Suddenly the sliding door of the room opened and a Japanese man, dressed in black security outfit came out. As he bowed at the entrance of the room Eric noticed a tanto, short Japanese knife, behind his belt. The man slid the door closed and was about to leave when Yuki appeared out of nowhere and they started to converse in the hall. They seemed to know each other well. Eric observed them from the corner and it was strange for him to see Yuki interacting with somebody in such a friendly way. After a short conversation the man passed gently with his hand over Yuki's face and then proceeded over her neck, slowly moving it downwards. As he was about to slide his hand inside her black training kimono - since the first day Eric never saw her wearing a white one again - Yuki placed her hand over his and stopped him from moving it further. They kept staring at each other for a second, exchanged few words, after which the man took his leave and headed in the direction of the staircase, straight towards Eric.

Eric hid behind the corner just in time to avoid being seen and barely returned to the first floor, before the man came down the stairs. He leaned against the wall near the staircase, and pretended he was there for a while. As the man noticed him, he came closer. He looked in his thirties, with fairly handsome features and considerably shorter than Eric. His daring attitude and posture were indications of an experienced and fearless vampire. His black eyes quickly swept Eric from top to bottom, reflecting a mixture of indifference and disdain. Eric, dressed in his usual tracksuit, his hands crossed in front, returned this patronizing assessment by slightly raising his left eyebrow and twisting his lips into a condescending smirk. The man left without a word.

Eric was about to return to the resting room, when he saw Yuki coming downstairs.

"Heeey Yuki...who was that?" He tried to sound casual.

"None of your business."

"Come on, its the only new person I've seen since my first visit here...besides you and Fujiwara, and the creepy old lady that has a thing for my shoes..."

"You mean Obaasan..."

"Ah, so that's her name..."

"No, her name is Sonoko, but we call her Obaasan. "

"I see...thank you for sharing this very important detail... and the gentleman that just left is...?"

"Still none of your business..."

"Why are you so secretive about it, Yuki?" he asked provocatively.

A corner of her mouth curled up as she walked past him and continued down the hall. "If you must know, he belongs to our security personnel. I believe he is in charge of protection for some lady acquaintance of yours."

Eric flinched. _Sookie._

Yuki disappeared in one of the rooms before he could ask more. He was glad that Fujiwara was keeping to his part of the deal, but there was something about that vampire that rubbed him the wrong way. Although he had no doubt in his strength, Eric did not like his condescending attitude and the way he interacted with Yuki.

The sound of Fujiwara's steps on the staircase deterred him from his thoughts.

"Ah, Eric san! I apologize for the interruption of the training, but I'm afraid we'll have to finish earlier today. As for tomorrow we'll make a break, so you have a free night."

"Any particular reason for this?" asked Eric worried, considering the man Fujiwara just spoke with was connected to Sookie's security.

"No, not at all," said Fujiwara and began to walk towards the entrance room, gently pushing Eric with him. "There are just some minor matters that require my attention. Besides, a break from training is necessary, so that the knowledge you acquired in such a short time settles inside you. It's a mental process and is just as important as the physical practise. Your performance today was exceptional and is time we move to the next level. But you need to remember this feeling you had today when you were fighting, and try to bring it to the next practise, ok?"

Eric nodded. They reached the entrance room and Fujiwara parted down the hall. The old lady, Obaasan, awaited Eric near the shoes. Her face bore no expression and as always she saw him out without any words. She probably did not speak any other language than Japanese, but even if she had, Eric doubted that she would be any more talkative. He was impressed with the minimal verbal interaction the relationships functioned in this house. Each time he returned to Fangtasia, even in the early morning hours, the outside world seemed amazingly noisy when compared to Fujiwara's residence. But after a whole week of this silent and, in every aspect, minimalistic environment, Eric had to admit he was actually looking forward to the loudness and liveliness of his home in Shreveport.

As he was approaching his corvette, parked in front of the house, his good moods disappeared upon seeing Yuki sitting on the passenger's seat.

_What the fuck does she want now?_

"Yuki...may I give you a ride somewhere?" he asked with an obvious cynicism.

"Yes, please," she put on an innocent grin as if driving her around was part of his daily routine.

He considered briefly to simply kick her out of the car, but it would probably bring him more trouble than it's worth.

He accepted the fact that he will have to put up with her a little longer and sat in the car.

"Ok, where to?"

"Fangtasia."

His fingers tighten around the wheel.

"Why would you want to go to Fangtasia?"

Yuki frowned at him as if his question made no sense at all. "Why not?"

He took a deep breath, looked at her from under his forehead and said calmly: "You see Yuki, having you for a training partner is one thing, but having you around outside that context is surely not my preference. You were in front of my face for seven days in a row, and a break not just from the training but also from you would be really welcomed. Besides I don't particularly like you."

"Wow...that was just so incredibly impolite, even for you." His negativity seemed to amuse her. "And if I insist, what are you going to do? Personally kick me out of your club?" she asked with scheming eyes.

"So you are going to insist?"

"Most definitely."

Eric felt this conversation turning to worse. He thought about it for a moment and said with resignation: "Fine, I'll take you there...however...if you misbehave in the slightest way, I will not hesitate a second to throw you out. Is that understood?"

"As long as it makes you feel in control..." .

"Get out..."

"Ok, ok...I just want to change the environment a bit that's all. I promise, you won't even notice me."

Yeah right, thought Eric and started the car.

* * *

><p>Eric drove as fast as he could and they arrived to Fangtasia in no time. It was an awkward drive that almost entirely passed in silence with Yuki having her earphones on for most of the time and occasionally making enthusiastic comments about some local attractions, they passed on the road. He felt genuine relief when he parked and she got out of the car. She took a purple rucksack from the backseat and they both entered the club. It was just after midnight and Fangtasia was packed.<p>

Yuki's eyes widened with joy upon seeing the lively crowd and she proceeded immediately towards the bar. Lafayette was busy serving the drinks and Pam came downstairs as soon she sensed Eric's return.

"Aren't you home early ..." said Pam surprised to see Eric. A wicked smile appeared on her face upon noticing Yuki. "Oh, and I see you two finally became friends..."

"She insisted to come," said Eric annoyingly. "Keep an eye on her and if she does anything out of the ordinary, anything at all, call me."

Pam nodded, trying to keep serious, while Yuki was making funny impressions of Eric behind his back.

Eric gave a quick warning look to Yuki and left.

* * *

><p>Things piled up during his absence and Eric had to take care of some of the matters, before he could finally enjoy his well deserved night off. As he returned from his errand, the club was still quite full, despite the late hour. Pam was chatting up a certain local beauty, and Lafayette was nervously handling the numerous customers at the bar.<p>

Eric's first concern was Yuki. He scanned the club until he finally saw her as she stood up from behind the bar, with a glass in her hand. She seemed to be receiving instructions from Lafayette on how to serve drinks. Eric remained near the entrance and observed her from far. A younger male customer approached the counter for a drink and it was not long before he began to chat with Yuki. Eric could immediately see, that he was eying her with a fangbang wish, but Yuki did not seem to mind and took an active part in the flirtatious game.

The more attentively Eric observed her, the more it seemed to him that something was not quite right about her. She was way too nice and patient with the human and her body talk was much more expressive than usually. She had a silly smile and her movements were rather clumsy. Suddenly he saw her disappearing behind the counter again and when she stood up, she had a wide grin on her face, revealing her fangs. She leaned forward to the admiring customer, her mouth wide open.

_Shit!_ Eric was besides her in an instant and almost caused Yuki to knock out a glass from surprise. He glanced at the shelf below the counter she tried to cover with her body.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

"Eric...ehehe..you are back.." said Yuki, grinning.

"Come..." He took her by the hand and pulled her towards the back of the bar.

"Wait, wait...what's the rush...don't tell me you're jealous...of the human?...You really shouldn't worry you know...I fuck only with vampires..."

"Yes I noticed that, when you let that sleazy ninja put his hands all over you..."

""What?...No! ...He is not a ninja...Do you want to know why I fuck only vampires?.." she kept talking as he was dragging her to the back.

"I'm sure you have a good reason..."

"Its obvious...human sexual abilities are so limited comparing to ours..."she giggled.

They came into the storage room behind the bar. Yuki became aware of Eric's serious reprimanding stare and stopped laughing. "Eric, I was just helping out Lafayette, I don't see anything wrong in that. The night is very busy and..."

"You are drunk!"

"Umm...why would you say that...vampires can't get drank..."

"Save it, I know about the X drink. Your master kindly served it to us at the dinner once and I saw the bottle you were trying to hide behind the counter."

Yuki tried to put on a serious expression, but her attempt ended with bursting into a loud uncontrollable laughter.

"Fuck! Come with me..."

As he tried to grab her again, she slipped from his grip and ran back to the counter finding herself face to face with an impatient female customer claiming her drink. The woman mistakenly took Yuki for an unconfident Asian worker and began to shout at her, complaining about the bad service. Yuki bowed and with vampire speed mixed few drinks together and served it to her.

The mixture made no sense at all and Eric who actually saw what Yuki put inside the glass was ready to step in to best contain the situation, which was about to follow, when the woman took a large sip of Yuki's drink.

After almost throwing up, the woman was about to unleash all her anger on Yuki, but as her eyes met Yuki's she remained completely still. Eric could hear Yuki's soft voice: "You like this drink very much. In fact you like it so much you will drink it all and give a large tip to the bartender that served it to you. Then you will go around the club, find the ugliest mother fucker there is and offer yourself to him for the rest of the night."

She did exactly as Yuki instructed her and then wandered off in search for her unplanned one night stand.

Yuki winked at Eric and waved a large banknote in front of his face.

"That was a bit exaggerated, don't you think?" asked Eric, secretly amused by the way she handled the situation.

"I'm sure the experience will make her much friendlier in the morning," said Yuki, still showing signs of intoxication.

Eric noticed her rucksack lying near the counter and opened it. It contained quite a few bottles of Tru Blood X. He came closer to Yuki and whispered to her ear: "I'm sure Fujiwara would be interested to know about the misplaced stock of his drink."

"All right...what do you want me to do? You want me to leave?" she said and began laughing again.

Pam approached the bar.

"Pam, I told you to keep an eye on her."

"I did, why? Is there anything wrong?"

Only now Pam recognized the familiar expression, she usually saw on many of the human customers in Fangtasia, on Yuki's face. "Fucking shit...is she..."

"She is..."

"But how?"

"I don't have the time to explain now. Pam could you take over? Lafayette come with me!"

Eric grabbed Yuki by the elbow and headed with her towards the exit.

"Sookie was right to worry about vampires being intoxicated. They are just not ready for that yet," grumbled Eric on his way out.

Pam rolled her eyes at the mention of Sookie's name.

"Sookie? Who is Sookie?" Yuki almost shouted, as she was being dragged out of the club.

* * *

><p>"Shit, I had no idea vampires can get drunk," said Lafayette, looking curiously at Yuki who now seemed almost her usual self, if it wasn't for the silly drunken grin on her face.<p>

The three of them walked to the back of the club and stopped in front of the garage.

Eric pressed the remote and said to Lafayette: "I took care of your transport. You will return me the favour by making sure Yuki gets to her house before the sunrise."

Lafayette did not know whether to rejoice at the new car or be horrified by the very disturbing news that he will take his first - and possibly the last - ride in it with a crazy, drunk vampire.

As the garage door finally slid up, the excitement on Lafayette's face was replaced first by an expression of bewilderment and then shock.

"Wwwhat the fuck is that?" he stumbled back.

Almost at the same time a shout of joy came from Yuki.

"AAAAAAA...its the new mini! Its soooo cute! I always wanted one!"

She was immediately all over the car, hugging it, opening its door, checking everything.

Lafayette gaped at the small blue car, which he didn't envisage even in his worst expectations.

"Why the fuck did you buy me an electric car, Eric?"

"Its not an electric car, silly.." Yuki answered him. "Is it a sport version?... 'cause if it is, this car can go super fast," she asked Eric and continued to drool over the car.

"I have no idea. I made a good deal on it. Don't look so disappointed, Lafayette. I heard they are very popular in Europe," said Eric, amused by both reactions.

"What do I care about Europe...hell... I'm not even sure they are legal here. This is a toy car, Eric, how do you even expect me to fit in?"

"It is actually quite comfortable. I drove it until here. Anyway, you will just have to manage. From now one this will be your car to use. Now take Yuki, its already late. This is the address and make sure she gets there in time, ok?"

As he took the address from Eric, Lafayette discreetly whispered to him: "Do you think that's safe for me, I mean what if she decides you know...to eat me?"

"I wouldn't eat you, Lafayette!" said Yuki exposing her teeth in a drunken grin.

"You see Lafayette, you have nothing to worry about," said Eric and opened the door of the car, gesturing Yuki to go in.

She obediently sat inside. Eric tied the belt around her and leaned closer to her ear: "If something happens to Lafayette I will know."

Yuki batted her eyes and took her rucksack from him.

Lafayette sank into a low, but comfortable seat of his new car. He took a minute to get familiar with the new car controls and constantly kept a watchful eye on Yuki, fearing that her current friendly appearance might change any time. When he felt confident enough, he drove off.

Eric waited until the car disappeared from his sight and wondered if it was a good idea to leave Lafayette alone with Yuki. After some consideration, he decided to trust Yuki this time and returned inside.

The night was coming to an end and the last customers were leaving.

"An eventful night, wasn't it?" said Pam as he came inside.

"You have no idea. But it ended up okay, I suppose."

"How did she got drunk...a fairy?"

"No, the Japs invented a drink."

"Get out of here! Could we get some?" asked Pam enthusiastically.

"No Pam. Not for now." Eric smiled.

"Too bad, can't remember when I got drunk the last time."

"I can."

Pam smiled at the distant memory. "Are you leaving at the usual time tomorrow?"

"No, actually I'm having a night off!"

"Great, so we can discuss a bit various, urgent matters."

"That or I could just enjoy my night off," said Eric cheerfully and walked towards his bedroom.

"Eric, you are being irresponsible!" Pam shouted behind him, knowing already she was not going to change his stubborn mind.

* * *

><p>Ginger came to the club first to prepare all the things necessary before the opening. She neatly put all the dried glasses to its place and checked the available stock of the drink. Not many bottles were left since last night and she had to go downstairs to the dungeon, which occasionally served as a storage room.<p>

She hated the dungeon. It frightened her and every time she went down there she had a creepy déjà vu sensation. She knew the boss used it sometimes for his sex games, but she had a feeling that something more horrible was going on in there, although she could not really remember seeing anything out of the ordinary. Either way, the dungeon was certainly not among her favourite parts of the house.

She opened the heavy door and attached it to the wall so it stayed open and allowed enough light to come in. She carefully walked down the stairs, stopping every two steps, to make sure there were no unfamiliar sounds coming from below. She finally reached the bottom and swiftly went towards the corner with the supplies. The corner was dark and she could barely see. As she bent down to pick up the box of bottles she saw a pair of green eyes beaming from the darkness, staring directly at her.

* * *

><p>Eric awaken to a loud, high pitched screaming coming from the dungeon. He and Pam were immediately at its entrance and found terrified Ginger screaming her lungs out at the bottom of it.<p>

Pam shook her by the shoulders. "Ginger calm down, what is it?"

She continued screaming and pointing towards the corner.

Eric checked it closer and realized what happened.

"Ginger, you can stop screaming!" he said authoritatively. "It's just Yuki."

The light from above revealed Yuki's pale face as she stood up from the dark corner. She came forward smiling apologetically, but when she was close enough she suddenly hissed with an evil grin, revealing her fangs right into Ginger's face. Ginger ran upstairs, screaming all the way.

"Great, just what I needed so early in the evening!" said Pam, looking at Yuki accusingly and followed Ginger upstairs.

"What the fuck are you doing here Yuki?" asked Eric.

"Whauu, is she always screaming like that? That's fantastic!" said Yuki, gazing after the voices coming from upstairs.

Eric stepped in front of her.

"Answer my question!"

"Well, considering the state I was in last night, I thought it would be better to stay here. Fujisama can sometimes be a bit of a nag. Besides it's also my night off, so... "

"What did you do with Lafayette?"

"Nothing, he left home I suppose, after he dropped me off."

This was certainly not the way he was planning to start his free day. Ginger's screaming was still buzzing in his ears.

"You are going back now!" he said, walking up the stairs.

Yuki came quickly after him. "Eric come on, let me stay at Fangtasia for the evening. I'll go home by myself later, I promise. "

"No fucking way."

"Please, I'm bored like hell at the residence. At least here is more...sociable."

Eric continued walking upstairs, ignoring her pleading.

"I can help Lafayette at the counter..." she persisted.

As they came up to the bar, Eric looked at the rucksack on her back. "I don't have time to deal with drunk vampires, Yuki."

"Don't worry about that, I won't take a sip I promise. I'll return all the remaining bottles to Fujisama." She took off the rucksack and placed it on one of the chairs.

Eric sighted. He really didn't want to deal with her now.

Ginger was still shaking when Yuki approached her, bowed low and said: "Ginger, right? I'm deeply sorry if I scared you. It was not my intention at all." With a girlish smile she offered Ginger a hand.

"Well, okay," said Ginger, calmed down by Yuki's charming approach.

Yuki looked at Eric as if this should earn her his approval to let her stay.

Eric rolled his eyes at Yuki's exaggerated display of kindness, but said nothing, and Yuki continued to chat with Ginger and Pam. Pam offered Yuki to show her the rest of the club and all the three of them left, leaving Eric alone at the bar.

Yuki's rucksack remained on the chair. Eric stared at it for a while, contemplating. Then he left the club, taking the rucksack with him.

* * *

><p>Eric headed out of the town, towards the woods. He walked a while till he reached a small pond deep inside the forest. He sat down on the wooden deck, placing the rucksack next to him. The quietness of the woods let his thoughts run free. He reflected on all that happened in the past week. What a strange turn his existence took. Everything was moving so fast since his encounter with the Japanese, and he felt he had less and less control over what's going to happen next.<p>

He lied down, crossed his hands behind his head and stared at the sky. Most of the stars were hiding behind the clouds. The night was windy, but unusually warm for this time of the year. The forest was peaceful, only resident animal inhabitants kept Eric a very discreet company. His mind drifted back to his last training. He knew that Yuki got distracted by the man that visited Fujiwara, but even so he was confident that this time he would have won. He was looking forward to the next training. The awkward scene between that man, responsible for Sookie's security, and Yuki came to his mind. _Should he be worried?_

Sookie...he missed her so much.

He sat up again and tried to dispel the melancholic thoughts by staring at the still surface of the small pond in front of him. For some reason one of Fujiwara's philosophical metaphors came to his mind: when facing an opponent, one's mind should reflect the opponent's mind like water reflecting the moon. His mind was more like a river of many rapids, and the more he tried to calm and empty it by pushing his thoughts away, the more the thoughts kept coming forward.

Tired of this frustrating battle against himself, his attention was drawn to Yuki's rucksack. He took it with him to make sure Yuki or anyone else wouldn't get drunk, but suddenly the small bottles appeared rather tempting. Last time he got drunk was when he drank that fairy. He was with Sookie then. _And now she was with Bill._

He took a bottle from the rucksack and looked at it for a while. He was going to take only few sips, just to ease some of the memories.

His face grimaced as he drank from the bottle. _These Japs have no taste, every drink they made so far tasted like shit._

After few more sips he could already feel the effects. A warming sensation spread in his chest and upon closing his eyes everything became calmer. As he continued drinking he became more cheerful and the funny episode with Ginger and Yuki came to his mind. He had to laugh out loud. Slowly, he got used to the taste of X. He lied down on the wooden deck and could not stop smiling. Everything he remembered was suddenly funny to him. Only when he thought of Sookie, a feeling of lust appeared additionally.

He continued to sip from the bottle till he finished it all. He peeked inside, to make sure it was empty and took another one from the rucksack.

The drink was now tasting much better. He made larger sips, causing him a warm pleasant feeling throughout the body each time he swallowed the liquid. After a while, he got the impression the deck is slightly moving. He sat up, and looked beneath it to make sure that was still firmly attached to the land. As he leaned further down, he lost his balance and was about to plunge head first into the water. Something grabbed and pulled him back just in time to prevent him from a sure fall. He turned and saw Yuki.

"I was looking for my rucksack," she said and sat down beside him.

Eric looked at her bewildered.

"How did you find me?"

"It was easy," she answered, took a bottle from the rucksack and opened it.

"How?"

"Let's just say, I'm good at these things."

Eric shrugged and extended his hand to take his bottle. He noticed that he was not in complete control of his movements.

"Take it easy...two bottles for somebody with no experience in drinking can become a problem."

"You should know..." said Eric sarcastically.

"I'm just giving you a friendly advice...but do as you wish," she grinned, her eyes sparkling maliciously as she drank from the bottle.

"So Yuki, how come you like Fangtasia so much?" asked Eric after a while.

"Its different."

"From what?"

"From everything I knew so far."

"How come you never went elsewhere?"

"I felt no need for it. Besides I'm bound to Fujisama."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, I follow where he goes."

"How did you get involved with him?"

"Why do you care?"

"Why are you so uptight about it?"

"I'm not. Its just that there is not much to tell, nothing at least that should be of an interest to you."

"I'm asking am I not?"

She sighted, took another sip and gazed out to the surrounding forest. "I belonged to another daimyo before. And when he died," she paused and corrected herself: "...when he was killed, things got out of control. I got involved in some really bad stuff. Fujisama took me in. He is a very powerful man, I'm sure you noticed that too. There is still a lot to learn from him, so I stayed with him ever since."

"How old is he?"

"I have no idea...I never asked and I don't really care. I witnessed his power once, only once, and it was good enough for me to stay."

"Didn't he teach you?"

"Fujisama almost never engages personally. He supervises, and he always has his pawns to do things for him."

"Such as yourself..."

"Exactly..."

"And you don't mind? He is not even your maker, why are you so loyal to him?"

Yuki smiled and looked at him. "The vampire relationships in Japan are very complicated, I don't expect you to understand."

"Don't be patronizing, we know loyalty around here as well."

"I'm sure you do...So what about...your loyalty? I heard you are willing to put up with all this shit for some human lady?" she said with a smirk.

"You are just changing the subject."

"Yes I am..."

"Ok then, I'll tell you if you'll tell me more about you..."

"Its a childish game..."

"Yes or no?" Eric leaned back on his elbows, challenging her with a playful stare.

Yuki started on her second bottle. "Ok, but you go first."

"Who is childish now..." said Eric, leering unintentionally at Yuki's body as she laid down next to him. "There is a lady your master promised to protect in exchange for my cooperation. Her name is Sookie. She is very special and means a lot to me, so yes, I'm willing to go through this shit for her."

"Sookie...that's a name I heard around...Why is she not staying with you?"

"That is slightly complicated...it's partly because staying at the king's house is in fact more secure, and partly because it was her own decision."

"Oh...OH, now I see...she is not yours..." Yuki giggled.

"No, she is not mine."

"And she is staying with the king..."

"Yes, with that fucking asshole Bill. I could never understand what she sees in him..."

"That's funny...haha..."

Eric felt offended by her reaction at first but then burst into laughter himself.

"Shit Eric, I would never expect that much sensitivity from you...you seem more like a type to take what he wants..."

"Yeah well, cannot always work out that way...your turn now." Eric leaned on the side, his body being right next to Yuki's. She didn't seem to be bothered by his closeness at all.

"What would you like to know?"

"So this previous lord of yours...was he your maker?"

She put the bottle down. "No, my original maker was a worthless piece of shit and I killed him as soon as I got the chance."

Full of nasty surprises this Yuki, thought Eric, remembering a very different relationship he had with his own maker.

"My previous lord was much more than just a maker to me. Before him, and after him, my existence is of no real value."

Eric noticed her fingers playing with the small flower shaped medallion she always wore around her neck. Her stare was directed at the sky. She made him feel at ease.

"The medallion, seems to be of an importance to you..."

"It's the crest of my clan...the clan of my lord. He was the strongest daimyo of that time. He was a superior warrior and had a brilliant mind. His soul must have been very old. I've never met anyone like him before or after, in all this time."

There was something very attractive in her quiet, calm voice as she spoke about her past. Eric suddenly found himself struggling to keep his attention and his eyes wandered across Yuki's body. Seven days of abstinence from his usual pleasures had its consequences that he was now beginning to feel. He took a long sip to freshen up, but it only became worse.

His mouth felt dry as he spoke: "Its quite usual for a young vampire that you were, to get so influenced by a much older one...it doesn't mean that..."

"He was a human."

Eric lifted his head "A human...you were under the command of a human?"

"Yes and that should hardly be a surprise for you..."

"It's not the same... I don't belong to her..."

"But you are willing to get yourself killed for her...and she doesn't even give a fuck about you..."

"You are simplifying things you don't have enough knowledge about."

"And your perception of the world affairs is still so limited, despite your age..."

The sharpness of her answers excited him even more. He needed another bottle. He leaned over Yuki to take it, but in doing so their bodies touched and he felt an immediate arousal. It must be the effect of the X drink, he reassured himself. The possibility that he could be attracted to Yuki for any other reason was profoundly disturbing. His fangs came out and he was only hoping she would not notice the other very obvious physical manifestation of his desire, but as their eyes locked, he could see it in hers that it was too late. There was no resistance from her, there was actually nothing in her stare to indicate that she was upset or flattered by his behaviour. Her indifference made him unsure of what exactly he wanted to do next.

Somehow, his body took an initiative on its own and his lips lowered to hers. Just before they touched, he saw her eyes lit up, and he felt a kick somewhere in the area of his abdomen that sent him flying through the air straight into the water.

She was standing on the edge of the deck, as he swam back up.

"This should cool you down for a while," she said, smiling naughtily.

He was quickly out of the water.

"Fuck you Yuki!" He tried to appear angry, but his mouth kept widening into a grin.

His wet appearance made Yuki laugh even more. "This is priceless...I warned you that too much drinking brings problems."

As he was draining the water from his clothes, a sudden sensation affected him visibly. His cheerful expression changed into a serious one.

He hurried across the deck towards the woods, without saying a word. He soon realized that he completely misestimated the speed with which he was moving and had to make a sudden jump to the side in order to avoid a close encounter with a tree. The jump caused him to lose balance and he stumbled into a nearby bush.

Yuki was immediately besides him. "Eric, you are not going seriously to resent me over this, are you?"

He was scrambling out of the bush, snickering, still in a hurry to leave.

Yuki stepped in front of him to block his way and frowned at him: "Hey... heeey slow down... what's going on? Are you going to leave like this? If I knew you cant's take a joke..."

"No, you don't understand..." He pushed her away. "I have to go...its Sookie, she is in danger." He flashed his white teeth in a drunken grin and disappeared into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

10.

Eric found his journey to Bill's mansion full of surprises. He felt light and had the impression he could move faster than usual, but had trouble accessing the correct distance from various objects he encountered on the way and kept overestimating his ability to avoid them. The hardest was the forest with its many trees that seemed to Eric as if they were placed on his way on purpose. He would bounce off some of them like a flipper ball, before he could get back on track and petrified few deer and owls along the way. A sigh of relief was heard among the forest inhabitants when this unexpected fury finally left their home and continued his ravage into a more open space.

Once out of the forest, Eric found it much easier to move but his intent to get to the mansion as fast as possible proved deadly for some of the bushes and other semi-height objects scattered around on the fields, as he practically incinerated them when passing through, firmly convinced that avoiding them would be too much time consuming.

The weirdest thing though was his vision. He felt as if his sight was lagging, compared to the actual happening. His eyes would get stuck on a particular segment for much longer then they should, which made his perception of what was going on around him really awkward and distorted. Luckily, such disturbances were coming and going, and for most of the time he could compensate for them as soon as his vision returned to normal.

But none of these problems deterred him from one, main concern. Sookie! She was scared and she was calling from him.

He finally arrived to the king's mansion and almost smashed into the high fence that surrounded it. He jumped over it easily, but landed quite heavily, rising the cloud of dust around him. As he stood up, he felt like he was standing on a deck of a boat, rocked by a restless sea. He blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. Few meters away, he noticed one of Bill's human guards lying on the ground. He approached and turned him over to examine him closer. A huge chunk of skin was torn from his neck and by the amount of the blood on the floor it was clear that he was dead.

As he was squatting by the guard he suddenly felt a presence of another vampire. He turned and saw Yuki bent over him, stretching her neck to see the dead human.

"Hmmm...what a waste of blood..." she said, shaking her head.

"There is no need for you to be here..." murmured Eric annoyingly.

"I couldn't leave you alone in this state. You have no experience with being X-ed. Besides, do you really think I'd miss on all the fun?" she grinned.

"I think you are drunker than I am."

"Probably, I finished the remaining two bottles on the way here...ah, running makes me so thirsty...ahahaha...But even so, I can see you are still worse off than me," she said, raising her eyebrows at him as he stood up and swung back and forth trying to keep the balance.

They both heard gun shots, coming from the direction of the mansion.

"Stay here, let me see what's going on..." said Yuki and disappeared.

"Are you really going to dictate me what to do? Do me a favour and stay out of my sight," grumbled Eric, still seeing Yuki standing in front of him due to his lagged vision.

When he realized he was talking to himself, he headed straight towards the entrance of the mansion. Near the entrance he saw two werewolves attacking another one of king's guards.

"Tststs...bad doggy..." he muttered and whistled through his fingers.

Yuki materialized by his side. "I told you to wait! Have you just whistled to the werewolves?"

He whispered on her ear: "Yes, but they don't seem to be very obedient."

"Is that so... I suppose we'll have to do something about it then," said Yuki conspiringly and they both began to giggle.

The two wolves immediately noticed the giggling couple and let go of the guard who collapsed on the spot. Their eyes were mad and their growling intensified.

"Well, you certainly got their attention, but I don't think they are in a mood to play," noted Yuki, positioning herself protectively in front of Eric.

Eric, observing her profile from behind, saw her fangs slid out as the wolves advanced. The whole situation seemed rather comic to him and he struggled to suppress the urge to laugh. Even so, in this state of semi-consciousness, he still knew he came here with a specific purpose and he made a step forward, determined to restrain the wolves and enter the mansion, to find Sookie.

As he moved, he felt Yuki's hand across his chest.

"Wait..." she said, shifting her eyes in the direction of the wolves.

Suddenly he saw two shadows ascending down from nowhere on the two wolves, that were now only few meters away from him and Yuki, and before his slow motion vision could perceive anything at all, one of the werewolves' head bounced off the ground and rolled right in front of his legs. The shadows disappeared as fast as they appeared. The other wolf changed back into his human form. His whole body shivered a couple of times, before most of his blood poured out from an open artery on his neck, and died on the spot.

Eric looked at Yuki, bewildered.

"It's Fujiwara's men. Come, we have to go..." she said in response and tried to pull him with her.

"No, no...NO...I have to go to the house..."

"Don't worry, they will take care of that..."

Eric saw a number of Bill's guards gathering in front of the house, beginning to search the area for intruders. He never had much faith in Bill's security and he was certainly not going to trust them with Sookie's safety. He needed to find her and make sure by himself that she was out of danger.

He was wrestling Yuki but could not get rid of her grip. They were both kind of unbalanced, pulling each other to different directions. Yuki proved to be more stubborn and she slowly prevailed in dragging him towards the back of the house. In the midst of their arguing about which direction to go, another werewolf jumped at them and sent them both flying to the ground.

"Shit!"Yuki swore as she fell flat on the ground.

The wolf charged in her direction, but before he reached her, Eric caught him in the air and rolled with him away from her. He was on his back, hugging the beast from behind, as they wrestled on the ground. He could see Yuki's grinning face staring at him. She kept making annoyingly redundant comments such as: "Eric, why don't you kill him?...Do you plan to kill him any time soon?... Eric, you have to kill him!"

"Do you think SO?" he yelled out when the beast bit hard into his hand and the pain momentarily cleared his mind. His fangs came out and he sank them deep into the wolf's neck, starting to drink. The wolf's blood tasted deliciously sweet compared to the bitter potion, he was feeding on at Fujiwara's for almost a week. He kept drinking with an insatiable thirst, feeling the werewolf's body slowly calming down in his arms, until it became completely still. The werewolf turned into a human form just before his last breath and Eric was lying on the ground with a naked man on the top of him.

"Mmm...what a view," chuckled Yuki.

Eric pushed the heavy body off him and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Why did you drag me back here Yuki?"

Before she had the chance to answer, the vampire Eric saw at Fujiwara's house, approached them and exchanged few words with Yuki in Japanese. He then glanced condescendingly at Eric, gave Yuki a friendly slap on the shoulder and disappeared again.

Yuki came over to Eric and pulled him up. "It is just as I thought, follow me..."

"Why, what did he say?"

"I don't have time to explain, just fucking come already!"

Eric was reluctant, but Yuki's sudden seriousness and concentration convinced him. As they came to the back of the house, he almost stumbled over two bodies of royal guards. Soon he noticed a male figure standing near the wall of the house. The man looked as he was just about to climb up to the roof, but he stopped when he sensed the two of them. He turned with a menacing stare and his fangs fully extended. He seemed annoyed that they disturbed him at whatever he set out to do.

"The werewolves were a diversion..." Yuki whispered to Eric and then addressed calmly the vampire:"Who sent you?"

The vampire's lips curled up in an evil smirk and instead of answering he began to approach them. Eric assessed him and quickly concluded that despite the opponent's tall and imposing physical appearance, his young age was simply insufficient to counter his own strength and he was going to have an easy way with him. So he smiled confidently, when vampire's huge fist came towards him. His lagged vision, however, affected his sense of timing greatly and while he was still planning to dodge elegantly in the last moment, the fist of the vampire already connected with his face.

He stumbled back in surprise and pain, and before he understood what happened, the vampire jumped at him. They fell to the ground and Eric pushed with both of his hands into vampire's face just in time to prevent his fangs from sinking deep into his neck. The attacker's eyes shined with madness, as he tried to overcome Eric's grip. His fangs came dangerously close to his throat, when Eric caught a glimpse of Yuki standing above them, with her hands folded in front, watching their struggle as if it was some sort of a game.

"YUKI!" Eric shouted.

She casually tilted her head to the side. "Yes?"

"Some help maybe?"

"Can't you handle it alone?"

"NOT a good time to debate about it!"

The attacker was stronger than he thought, and the misplaced control of his senses and body hindered Eric greatly.

"Fine..." she muttered, grabbed the vampire's head from behind and snapped his neck in one motion.

The vampire dropped to the ground for a moment, giving Eric just enough time to get back on his feet, but as soon as he regained his consciousness he jumped at Yuki and pinned her against the wall of the mansion with such a strength and intensity that the wall cracked. Eric immediately went after them, grabbed the vampire from behind and tried to twist his arms backwards, pulling him away from Yuki.

"Hold him!" shouted Yuki, recovering from the impact.

"Easy to say..." replied Eric, applying all his strength into clinching the furious vampire

Yuki opened her jacket and took a wooden stake from the inner pocket.

"Who sent you and what was your mission? Don't let me ask you again!" said Yuki in a threatening tone, holding the stake above the struggling vampire.

Upon seeing the stake the vampire hit backwards with his head straight into Eric's nose, causing him an extensive bleeding and an excruciating pain.

"FUCK!...Yuki! Just fucking stake him, I won't be able to hold him much longer..."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure!"

"Ok then...bye bye mister!" she said with the sweetest voice and plunged her stake in the vampire.

There was a moment of silence, as each of them awaited the things to change, according to their expectations: Eric closed his eyes expecting to get covered in bloody pieces of flesh and intestines, the vampire readied himself to meet his true death, and Yuki's mouth widened in a big grin as if she had just scored a bingo. But as their expectations lingered on, the expected scenario did not play out.

Eric one eye squinting, looked over to Yuki. Yuki met his bewildered stare and then looked at the vampire. The vampire glanced down on his body. The stake was inside him, but quite safely away from the heart.

"Oh shit, I missed..."Yuki simpered.

"WHAT?...Do it again dammit!" shouted Eric.

The vampire realizing his attackers' incompetence began to pull violently in an attempt to escape Eric's grip. Eric barely managed to keep him in place.

"Ummm...yes wait, keep him still...here!" she staked him again, but nothing happened.

The vampire roared in pain as the stake penetrated deep into his stomach but continued to struggle even more.

"In the heart Yuki...IN THE FUCKING HEART!" yelled Eric, his broken nose hurting like hell each time the vampire, moving violently, came in contact with his face.

Yuki took her aim again, and she was about to stab him when a hushed laughter came from the tortured vampire. His head was hanging down as he spoke, and a slight French accent as well as hate were easily detected in his words: "You fucking idiots...you have no idea what you're getting yourselves into. I shall be revenged, I can promise you that..."

"Is that so..." said Yuki calmly as her eyes flashed and she finally hit the correct spot.

"Merde!" was the last word they heard from the vampire, before his existence came to an end.

Eric exhaled deeply with relief, carefully touched his still aching nose and began casually to brush off splattered body pieces of his most recent opponent.

"I'd say that was one of the most pathetic attempts to kill a vampire I ever witnessed."

Yuki hissed back at him: "If it wasn't for me he would be now inside the house and getting his way with your lady, while you would be still playing with the dogs ..."

"I would done just fine by myself...in fact you just got in the way..."

"In the way? You can't think as much as one step ahead. Their plan was clear to me from the beginning..."

"Here we go, praising your so-called strategy again...surely without it we wouldn't be able to kill, how many was it already? Oh, just one, single vampire and a couple of his dogs. Tell me, are all the Japanese vampires such snobbish narcissists or is it just you?"

"Funny you should say that, as you practically epitomize what narcissism is all about," she ranted at his face. "And in case you haven't noticed, he was no regular vampire. He was a trained soldier and knew exactly what he was doing, which I can hardly say for you."

"Remind me, how many times it took you to stab him with that stake? And where did you get it anyway, or is a stake just another item you carry along in your lady purse?"

"I don't carry a lady purse."

Yuki's odd habit to focus on a rather unimportant detail of the question, instead of actually answering the question itself, annoyed Eric very much, but in current circumstances, he found it simply funny. He felt that Sookie was out of danger and he could finally relax.

Yuki was waiting for his response, observing him with that confident, smug, uninterested expression so characteristic of her. She had pieces of the vampire stuck in her hair and was still holding the stake in her hand. Eric wasn't sure, if it was her appearance, the ridiculous conversation or just X, but suddenly he was overcome by an overwhelming urge to laugh. He tried to suppress it by letting out only few hushed giggles, but the more he tried to quell it down the louder he began to laugh.

Yuki remained serious at first, but soon they were both convulsing with laughter.

"Eric!"

A familiar voice was calling him and he turned immediately. Sookie, closely accompanied by Bill and two guards, was walking in his direction. When she saw him she began to walk faster, until she almost ran to him.

"Oh my god Eric, are you all right?" Her eyes were full of worries and she trembled as she gazed over his body.

He gently looked at her and smiled in sincere happiness.

"Don't worry Sookie, I'm okay. The attackers won't harm you anymore, me and Yuki took care of them."

"Who?" asked Sookie frowning. Bill was eying him suspiciously.

"Yuki...she is my training partner..." He turned around to introduce Yuki, but there was nobody there.

"Eric, something is wrong with you. You look weird, and that's apart from the fact that you are all covered in...whatever that is!" said Sookie and fixed her eyes on him as if she wanted to poke his mind for more information.

"What...no no, she was here...and also her companions... " He stopped himself just in time. He knew if Bill found out about Fujiwara's security operating in the backyard of his house, he would certainly object. "Anyway, never mind," he grinned and pinched her cheek. Doing that he slightly swung back and forth, as the excitement brought back the effects of X.

"Oww!" she pouted and then exclaimed: " Eric! I know this look, you are drunk!"

His white teeth featured prominently on his blood smeared face as he admitted with a smile: "Ehehe, maybe a little.."

"And you find it funny? Eric how could you be so irresponsible? Getting drunk with who knows who doing God knows what, while the rest of us are worried sick about when and how Russell decides to kill us...It's so like you to get drunk at times like this! What if...what if the attack was much worse?" Sookie was almost screaming at him.

"What did you expect from him, Sookie..." remarked Bill cynically.

Eric raised his eyebrow, marvelling at the whole situation. He certainly was not expecting such a vehement scorn from Sookie, but strangely it did not disturb him in the slightest. He said calmly: "I just had few sips of X with Yuki that's all, I see no problem with that..."

"For all I care you can drink the whole night with your imaginary friend, just don't expect me to rely on you anymore," she replied sharply, turning her eyes away from his.

"She is not imaginary...she was here, helping me to kill the mother fucker who wanted to sneak from the roof to get to you..." said Eric, still wondering why the hell Yuki disappeared like that.

"How do you know that?" interjected Bill in an unfriendly tone."You certainly don't seem to be in a state of making any sound judgements. For all we know you could have killed a random vampire, that happened to be in the vicinity...your recklessness can have grave consequences for all of us."

"And I suppose you'll say next that the werewolves came here to pay you their respects..." replied Eric. The thought of severing Bill's head with the sword crossed his mind briefly, but due to benevolent X effects, it translated into a funny cartoon like image, which almost forced Eric into a loud laughter again. It was only because of the serious, reprimanding look on Sookie's face that he managed to control himself.

"Don't worry Bill, the vampire was a mercenary, not from around here, and I'm quite sure nobody will come forward to claim him. But tell me, what exactly did you do when they came after Sookie?"

"I was right next to Sookie at all times, and the security was running smoothly, much before you arrived here."

"Yeah, about your security... I believe you'll have some new hiring to do..."

"I certainly know who I won't be hiring from," replied Bill, giving Eric a brief glance of despise from head to toe.

"Tell me," said Eric calmly, his eyes turning icy blue. "Have you in your twisted mind perhaps mistakenly convinced yourself that because you are a king I would not hurt you?"

"All right! Bill! Eric did take care of some of the perpetrators after all and I'm sure he had best intentions, despite his headless behaviour. So, Eric, I suppose I should thank you, for coming here so soon. Perhaps you and whoever helped you..." said Sookie, trying to ease the tension between him and Bill.

"Yuki. And she is very pretty." As the words came out of his mouth, he wanted to slap himself. He could not believe he actually said that out loud.

The comment seemed to distract Sookie for a second, but then she continued: "So perhaps you and your friend Yuki would join us for a dinner, so we can all sit down and discuss things calmly?"

"That should be interesting...but..."

"Indeed, I don't think that would be a good idea, Sookie," interfered Bill quickly.

"Actually, why not?" Eric suddenly changed his mind. "Of course, I can't guarantee for Yuki. She is a bit particular and also very picky about the food..."

"Don't worry, Bill's cellar is stocked with all kinds of blood. He is the king after all, and I'm sure we can find something that fits your pretty friend's taste," she rubbed it in his face. "So, unless there are any other problems?"

Her lively blue eyes had an instant mesmerizing effect on him. He glanced down and sighted.

"No, there are no problems, Sookie."

"Sookie, I must insist against this!" objected Bill.

"Oh please Bill, a nice evening spent together will distract us a bit from Russell's evil plans. His actions are already causing tension among us, and I will not allow that. We are much stronger if we stay together. Besides, having some people, I mean vampires, over will make me feel more at home in that huge cold house of yours."

Both Eric and Bill ascribed her persistent optimistic belief, that they could be all good friends and that their cooperation might somehow play an important role in stopping Russell, to human naivety. But Eric accepted the invitation, because he wanted to be near Sookie and to annoy Bill, and Bill at the end accepted because he wanted to make Sookie happy and hoped that complying with her wishes, will bring her closer to him again. Apart from that, he also counted on a fairly good chance, that Eric will do something stupid enough to discredit himself in Sookie's eyes. So he nodded his approval.

"Great then! Eric, I'll call you to set a date, "said Sookie enthusiastically.

"Can't wait," replied Eric, with a forced smile.

As much as he liked to see Bill annoyed, he was not sure himself, the dinner was such a good idea. Yuki was completely unpredictable, and he had no control over her. And how stupid of him to say that about her, just to spite Sookie...oh well, it will be certainly an interesting evening, if Yuki accepts the invitation.

They all parted in different directions. As Eric walked away he saw the guards dragging the bodies of the dead werewolves from the garden. He hated to admit it, but Yuki was right, they were only a diversion. It was not a very sophisticated plan, but Russell's hand was felt in all this. If the vampire got inside the house it could have disastrous consequences. He would take out Bill and his security without any problems, leaving Sookie at his mercy. Sending his trained vampire mercenaries meant Russell began to play on another level. This was a direct message from Russell, to let them know he did not forget about his revenge.

The X effects were slowly wearing off as he was heading for home. His mind cleared up and he could think straight again, without any comic flashes or urges of laughter. But the soberer he became, the darker were his thoughts. Something about that dreadful vampire said, was bothering him. It was the way he said it, as if the attack was a part of something bigger than Russell's petty feelings of revenge.

An even more disturbing thought crossed Eric's mind: what if Fujiwara knew about the attack? His talk with that security man and the cancelation of training suspiciously coincided with the time of the attack. And Yuki, she insisted so much to come to Fangtasia. Was it to watch over him or worse - to distract him? She had a stake with her. Too many coincidences began to pile up.

He will find out, sooner or later, if Fujiwara knew anything about the attack and for some twisted reason decided to keep it from him. He won't let anyone to play with Sookie's life.

* * *

><p>Fujiwara was sitting in front of a small wooden table in his room. He was holding a brush in his right hand, and stared down on an empty sheet of white paper. In a sudden movement he made few strokes with the brush and then lift it up again, fixing his stare at the black lines the brush left behind.<p>

Without removing his eyes from the paper, he said: "Yuki, come in."

Yuki slid the door open and sat down in seiza, folding her legs beneath her tights. She placed both hands in front of her on the floor and bowed towards Fujiwara.

"Hmmm, my calligraphy is not as good as it used to be, I'm shamelessly neglecting my practise of Shodo," mused Fujiwara, still observing the paper in front of him with keen interest.

"Sensei is skilled in many arts, it is natural, that not all of them get the same attention," commented Yuki politely.

"Ah, that's just excuses for my laziness, Yuki," replied Fujiwara and placed down the brush on its holder. He turned his attention to Yuki. She was sitting immovable, her stare directed to the floor. Her clothes and face still bore visible traces of the fight.

"I see you had an eventful night..."remarked Fujiwara, his lips curving up into a very discreet smile.

"Which you knew of, already..."

"Let's say, I had a premonition that a certain course of events will take place."

"Surely Masaki-san's information was more precise than that."

"You always had a sharp tongue, Yuki. That's what got you in trouble in the past," said Fujiwara suggestively.

"I just don't understand, why I wasn't informed about it." She kept the polite tone, but her eyes looked straight into Fujiwara's.

"The information was not exact, besides I had no doubt, you will manage. One has to be ready at all times under any circumstances. You do still remember the four weaknesses, don't you?" His eyes narrowed slightly.

Yuki lowered her eyes again and recited quietly from her memory: "Doubt, fear, confusion and surprise."

"Good, now tell me about the attack."

"Four wolves were sent as a diversion. The royal guards killed one, the rest, we took care of. The main perpetrator was a vampire, trained extremely well, a soldier"

"I suppose he did not reveal any information?"

"No."

"Did you happen to notice where he was from?"

"Judging by the accent, he was French."

"Probably a legionnaire, then. Excellent soldiers, absent of any moral system and extremely loyal to their employer. Edginton used to recruit among them. According to some rumours, he would pick them and turn them personally, after observing their performance on the battle ground. Of course he would always choose the most ruthless and crazy ones. Their only weakness is that they are still relatively young. Hmmm, if his soldiers are here it means, he is progressing faster than I thought. We'll have to speed up our preparations."

"Sensei..." She hesitated. "Is there any other purpose for our presence here, besides killing Russell Edginton?"

"You know better than to question your tasks, Yuki. Any particular reason you are so concerned with this one?" Fujiwara's tone suddenly became stricter.

"No, Sensei. I apologize."

"We came here to eliminate Russell Edginton, that's all you need to know. Which brings me to our Viking. How did he do tonight?"

"Considering the circumstances, he could have done much worse. The woman, Sookie...he would do anything for her," said Yuki dryly.

"Is that so... interesting... and his strength, any improvement?"

"It's still too early to say..."

"Ah, yes, especially, if one has to fight under the effects of X. Did you think it would escape my attention?"

"Nothing ever escapes your attention, Sensei."

"Well, it surely made the whole situation much more unpredictable. And that's important for Eric san. He has to learn to perform effectively under any kind of circumstances. Nevertheless, I would prefer to be notified next time you take something from me."

"As I would have preferred to be updated on matters that concern me closely."

"Yuki!" He raised his voice only slightly, but the message was clear.

"I apologize, Sensei, I don't know what's wrong with me tonight, must be still the effects of X." She lowered her head further down.

After observing her quietly for a moment, Fujiwara's face softened again and a subtle smile appeared on his lips as he spoke: "Yuki, your capability to completely detach yourself from everything is what makes you so good, I hope you are aware of that."

"Yes, thank you, Sensei."

"Ok, clean yourself and go to sleep, tomorrow it will be a hard day, especially if you two drank more than a bottle." He tilted his head back and laughed out loud.

Yuki bowed, stood up and silently left the room.

Fujiwara placed a new paper on the table. He took the brush in his hand again, focused for a second on the white surface in front of him, and with the same sudden and decisive movement as before, made few strokes.

He put down the brush and sighted deeply, as if the kanji he just drew reminded him on something unpleasant. His forehead wrinkled with concern, as his eyes thoughtfully followed the brush lines, which connected into the symbol of mirror.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In conclusion of the 10****th**** chapter, I want to thank you all for following this story and for your lovely reviews – they make the ink flow faster through my pen, so please keep them coming. I hope you will enjoy the story further and I hope to live up to the "badass writer" reputation, which PW so kindly bestowed upon me. ;)  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8

11.

Eric staggered from his vault and leaned against the wall as he came up to the bar. He let his head fall backwards and closed his eyes, trying to think when was the last time he felt so bad. He experienced all kinds of physical pain in battles and numerous fights he fought, but this was a different kind of pain or rather sickness and the closest he ever felt like this was about thousand years ago after having drank mead all night with his fellow Viking tribesmen. The mead flowed down their throats in large amounts especially after successful battles, causing hangovers in the morning that were much worse than the battle itself. But what Eric was experiencing now was even worse than that. In old times, when he was still a human, he would simply vomit and take some herbs to ease the headache, but as a vampire he had no idea what to do. He couldn't force himself to throw up and there were no drugs invented for a vampire's hangover, because up until now such thing did not even exist.

He moved towards the sink behind the counter and opened the pipe. He let the water run for a while, and then put his head, which felt like a giant ball of pain, under the cold stream. It didn't really help, but he just had to do something. The sound of the water and the feeling of it splashing on his hair, behind his ears, down the back of his neck and over his face were somehow comforting.

He was standing like this for a while, with his head inside the sink, when somewhere in the background he heard the door opening and footsteps approaching. Accompanying the footsteps was a sound all too familiar, the gentle tinkling of a bell. First he thought the ringing originated from inside his head because of the pain, but as the footsteps came closer, the sound became more distinctive. He did not think much, in fact he did not think at all. His body automatically reacted to the stimulus, that it internalized so well during the past week. Just before the steps reached the counter his hands moved toward the object that bore the annoying sound and in one fast motion flipped it over on the floor. His fangs were fully out as his hand fixed to the ground the unsuspecting intruder.

"YUKI! I'm not in the mood…"he growled in what he expected to be Yuki's face, but stopped short when he saw Ginger's startling eyes staring back at him. Her mouth was wide open and before he could move away, her scream ripped through each and every one of his brain cells. From the intensity of it he stumbled back against the wall and covered his ears with his hands.

Pam, who just arrived at the bar, glanced briefly first at Eric and then at Ginger, and asked rather indifferently: "Would somebody explain me what the fuck is going on?"

»He...he attacked me!« sputtered out Ginger, pointing at Eric and continued to scream.

»If you are hungry dear, you could have just asked,« said Pam looking at Eric.

Eric's eyes were glittering from the pain. He cried out: »Shut Up! Pam, tell her to shut up, or I swear I'll rip out her vocal cords!«

At the threat, Ginger finally stopped. »This time I quit, I mean it!« she proclaimed, with an offended expression on her face.

»Ginger darling, stop it, where would you go anyway,« Pam shrugged off her complains, knowing if Ginger insisted on it, she will simply glamour her, as she had done on several occasions before.

Eric came close up to trembling Ginger and commanded her: "Ginger move!"

»Whaaat …..what do you mean?" asked Ginger, with fear in her eyes.

»Just ..." he made a circle with his finger, "…turn around!«

She slowly made the whole circle and turned back to Eric with a baffled expression on her face, her mouth half open. Eric detected the source of the irritating sound immediately. He took Ginger's purse and examined it.

»Where did you get this?« He waved in front of her face a phone strap in a shape of a cat, with a bell attached to it.

Ginger gulped. "Yuki gave it to me, she said its a good luck charm and that I should have it with me at all times. Why? Are vampires allergic to it or something?» She looked at him with an even stupider expression.

»Don't be silly Ginger, Eric is just feeling a bit edgy today… off you go now….« Pam dismissed her quickly and smirked at Eric: »I see the Japs know how to party hard….. where did you two disappeared last night? Anything you want to share with me?"

Eric wasn't in the mood for Pam's insinuations. He felt like he was on the inside of a giant bell while somebody was repeatedly banging on it. He just rolled his eyes at her, and leaned on the counter covering his eyes with his hand.

Pam turned to Lafayette who was standing quietly near the door, with boxes and bags still in his hands. »Lafayette, don't stand there like a statue. Go help Ginger, the club is opening in one hour!"

Only now Eric noticed Lafayette, even though he arrived together with Ginger and has been there the whole time.

Lafayette in his mind quickly went over his accessories to make sure that none of them produced any tinkling sound and began to unload the supplies he carried.

»If LAFAYETTE…«said Eric, pronouncing loudly his name, "would have taken Yuki home as he had been told to do, none of this would happen."

"Don't you dare pin this one on me, Eric! I drove as fast as possible to get her home in time and you know what she did? In the middle of the road, while I was in full speed, she pulled the hand break. That little car spun so many times I felt like I was on a fucking merry-go-around. Thank God the road was empty at those hours. When I finally managed to get the car under control and stopped it, she jumped out and disappeared. I had no idea she returned here, until Ginger told me about their encounter. I was just glad I got home in one piece."

Eric buried his head in his hands and murmured: "I don't fucking care…."

»Eric, I wish I could help you somehow…. you want me to call Ivetta perhaps?« asked Pam, trying to hide her amusement at seeing for the first time her maker experiencing a hangover.

In his current state, Eric found the humans extremely repulsing.

»No…. it's fine Pam. I'll be going, hopefully the Japs invented also an equivalent for aspirin,« he replied and left.

* * *

><p>During his ride to Fujiwara, Eric tried to distract himself from the pounding headache, by thinking about last night. There were some parts he rather didn't remember, but it seemed the black outs were not part of X's devastating hangover. The opposite, he remembered it all quite vividly, and when thinking again about the attack and the conclusions he draw from it, his mood turned even more bleak. Desperate thoughts ran through his aching head. They were lucky this time, but what if next time, Russell will succeed? What if he fails to protect her…..will he be able to live with that?<p>

For some reason he felt it was necessary to stay close to Fujiwara. His gut feeling was telling him that if there was a solution at all, it was somehow connected to the old man.

* * *

><p>As he walked down the hall of Fujiwara's house he saw Yuki leaning on the wall near the exit to the backyard. Her hands were crossed in front and her shorter hair was partially covering her eyes. When he approached her, she smiled at him in an unusually friendly way.<p>

"You look like shit, Eric," she addressed him with a collegial tone as if their last night's adventure buddied them up in some way.

Without any warning, he pinned her against the wall, pressing with his forearm strongly on her neck.

"Did you know about the attack?" he asked with hushed but intense and threatening voice. His fangs came out.

Clearly not expecting such reaction, she tightened up and her eyes, wide open, stared at him from beneath her hair in surprise. Her set back, however, lasted only for a moment. Soon she lowered her eyes, and her shoulders relaxed.

"A bit grumpy, are we?" The tone of her voice became distinctly cold.

""Don't play with me, you have no idea what I'm capable of! Did you or did you not know about the attack?" he asked her again pressing on her neck even harder.

She glared straight at him.

"Fuck you Northman." Her eyes momentarily flashed as she pronounced the words.

He knew he won't get anything from her, but he didn't really care. He wanted it to be a warning.

He retracted his fangs and released his hand as he stepped back. She stayed against the wall with her head down and eyes hidden by the hair.

He left her there and walked towards the porch. Fujiwara was already sitting on the small wooden stage, talking on the phone. When he saw Eric he immediately hung up.

The night was very dark. The moon and the stars were completely covered by thick layers of clouds. The wind was swaying the bushes on the sides of the backyard and brought with it cold air. Eric could feel small drops of rain on his face, announcing a storm not far behind.

The cold or wetness ware not a problem for a vampire, nevertheless, they caused an additional discomfort, and for Eric on this particular night any such disturbances had multiplied effect.

_Great, just what I needed_, he thought as he stepped down on the graveled ground.

"Greetings, Eric san. I hope you enjoyed your time off," Fujiwara's annoyingly cheerful voice resounded in Eric's ears.

"Immensely! I certainly had a good rest," replied Eric sarcastically, quite sure that the polite smile on Fujiwara's mouth was just a cover for a self-content smirk from knowing exactly what occurred during the past two nights.

"Great! Then you are more than ready for your training tonight!"

Eric smiled back bitterly. He just needed to make it through the first half, and then the healing effects of the blood they usually drank during the break, will hopefully make him feel better.

Yuki jumped down from the porch. Her black hakama and hair waved in the wind. She assumed her usual posture, her chin slightly lowered. Without as much as looking at Eric she threw him his white bokuto.

His reflexes were so weaken that he barely caught it. She, on the other hand, seemed horrifyingly focused and to fight with her while his head throbbed with pain, on a stormy night, was the last thing he wanted to do. He hoped she was, considering how much she drunk, worse off than him, but whether that was the case or not, he could not tell.

Yuki remained on her place as Fujiwara called to start, so Eric charged towards her first. Her eyes slightly narrowed, as she jumped above him and stroke him down on his back. The blow almost caused him to fall face down on the ground, but he managed to stabilize himself in time.

He felt she moved to his right and he turned to block. He pushed her back, but she came at him in full force, swinging her sword up. He raised his hands to block again. Before he realized, she swiftly changed the angle of her strike and he felt a heavy blow across his stomach. The impact caused him to throw up a little blood. Yuki stopped few steps in front of him. Her chest and shoulders were rising up and down, keeping in rhythm with her heavy breathing. She was not immune to X's post-effects after all, he thought. Although her heavy breathing was just a reflex of her human life, it was a definite sign, that she was weak as well.

It gave him some motivation to charge against her, even though he was in enormous pain. He managed to swing but she blocked and shattered his knee cap with her next strike. He collapsed on one leg and the pain momentarily overshadowed his headache, almost causing him to black out. A contemptuous smirk manifested on her lips as he was trying to stand up, while his knee slowly healed. His headache returned.

They continued the training, exchanging heavy strikes, sword against the sword, but for most of the time neither of them managed to execute a worthy attack.

After a while, their strikes and their movements got slower. He let his guard down quite a few times, but Yuki, who usually would not miss such opportunities to strike him, was, luckily for him, too slow to react. The wind and rain intensified, and the ground got muddy and slippery.

Fujiwara suddenly stood up from his small podium and strolled, casually passing the two of them still fighting, towards the porch. Eric, his sword crossed closely with Yuki's, followed him with a stare, and hoped he would call the magic word to stop.

"Don't mind me, continue…."called out Fujiwara and waved his hand at them, as he sat down on the porch under the short roof of the house.

Eric whispered to Yuki: "Isn't it already time for a break?"

Yuki pushed him away without answering, but he could see by her bent posture that she was just as tired as he was.

"Are there any problems, Eric san?" asked Fujiwara immediately.

_Shit_, thought Eric, realizing he heard him.

He approached Fujiwara. "It occurred to me that we are already well into the second half of training, and I was just wondering what happened with our usual break?"

"Oh, right. Well, I thought that today, since you two had more than a full day of rest, there is no need for a break…..or… is there, Eric san? " asked Fujiwara and looked at Eric wittily.

Eric glanced at Yuki. She gave him no indication of what to say or whether or not she told Fujiwara about last night.

He duly responded: "No, there's no need."

"Good then, let's continue…and please, without any further disturbances, " said Fujiwara and called Hajime immediately.

After another three hours or so, Eric was almost oblivious as to what was going on around him. The rain was now pouring down and every now and then when the lighting lit up the area, he could see Yuki's dark figure, somewhere around him, looking just as exhausted as he was.

He could not think at all, let alone about the techniques he should apply. He just hoped to stand through this with some dignity. He could feel Yuki's determination to knock him down, but her movements were not even a close reflection of her usual fast, elegant and deadly attacks. Their fighting soon became deadlocked. But she continued, and so did he.

In his mind he was cursing Fujiwara for his maliciousness and wondered for how much longer he will let this meaningless practice to go on. But Fujiwara looked as he was completely unaware of their condition. Sitting cross-legged under the small roof, safely sheltered from the rain, he observed them with his usual interest, as he had done at every other training so far. Only this time, he also refrained from giving any comments at all, as if he didn't want to disturb the agonizing continuity of the training.

Even though she was weak, Eric was quite surprised that Yuki did not strike him down yet. All he could do now was blocking, predicting on some subconscious level, where her strikes are coming from. He could not see clear anymore, the pain in his head, the rain, the mud on his face, they were all obstructing his vision. It was only his stubbornness that somehow kept moving his body. When they would clinched their swords together, he searched from Yuki some silent consent, that perhaps they should stop or at least slow down, but she didn't as much as look at him, and each time he wanted to rest in the clinch, she would pushed him away and they started from the beginning.

In the midst of this madness, he wished he would pass out, but even that did not occur. The only comforting thought was that soon there should be dawn and it will finally be over. He just needed to stay on his feet a little longer, _just a little longer_.

He saw Yuki in front, closing on him slowly with her sword pointing at his throat. He lifted his sword to the same position to protect himself. It looked as if she composed herself for one last attack.

He focused his aching eyes one more time on her and this time it felt as if he was looking at her through a narrow tube. He could see only her silhouette and nothing else around it. He spread his legs a little wider to get a better balance on the muddy floor. His mind was not functioning anymore, and he felt like an animal. He knew Yuki charged to kill and staying only in defense won't do this time. He will have to attack, even if he could barely move.

Through his tunnel vision he saw her approaching rapidly. He kind of resigned that she will probably succeeded in whatever she set out to do. He didn't care anymore to loose or to win, he simply readied himself for one last strike, without any regard as to how it will end.

The attack was simple but powerful. She broke the defense line of his sword, and found a perfect moment to strike. In that same moment, he simply thrust his sword forward. The timing of his trust was so accurate that if the sword was sharp she would impale on it, but instead the momentum sent her sliding backwards on the muddy floor.

Out of the corner of his eye Eric could see Fujiwara standing up. Yuki was about two meters away, breathing heavily, exchanging surprised looks with Fujiwara. She shook her head to clear the hair from her face, and then, as if his action empowered her with some mysterious energy, she moved in really fast, crossed her sword with his and in some sort of circular motion tilted his sword from his hands few meters away. Next thing he knew the point of her sword was against his throat and her eyes firmly focused on him. He stood there empty handed, thinking what exactly he did to piss her off so much. He expected she will remove her sword, after she clearly made her point, but instead she pressed the tip of the sword slightly into his throat.

"Give up?" she asked.

He was not sure if it was the words or the smirk on her lips that triggered him, but suddenly he felt as if all his pain channeled into enormous strength and in one motion he pushed away her sword and throw himself on her so they both came crushing down on the ground. Yuki hit the ground hard and her nose started to bleed from the impact. He knew if she had a real sword he would be already dead, but just for tonight he was willing to disregard this small detail.

Once on the ground he stayed on top of her, wanting only to prevent her from moving. He had no wish or will to fight anymore. When even this became too tiring, he let her go, while he remained laying down on his stomach, half of his face in the mud. His eyes were following her as she was looking for her sword on her knees. When she found it, she raised it up to strike him, but instead she fell on her back into the mud right next to him. Her hair got loose from the ponytail and was now swayed by the wind on the muddy ground and over her face. Eric watched the blood from her nose slowly running down her lips.

Suddenly a pair of Japanese wooden clogs appeared right next to his head. He looked up just to see Fujiwara's benevolent face, smiling down at them.

"I think we shall stop for today. Eric san, how did you feel with your fighting? Have you noticed anything different?"

Eric lifted his head and blinked through the mud. _You mean apart from the obvious, you evil old man_, he thought, but simply shook his head once, which was about all he could do.

Fujiwara smiled again, placing his hands behind his back.

"There were no bells," he said and laughed loudly.

_The bells? What bells?_ Eric couldn't care less about it. His headache returned and even the idea of waiting in the mud to burn in the morning sun began to appeal to him.

"Eric san, it is very late, and I'm afraid you are in no state to return home now, so please be our guest for today. I warmly recommend you to use our Ofuro facilities… a Japanese hot bath. It will make you feel much better," suggested Fujiwara , already walking towards the house.

Yuki scrambled to her feet and went inside without as much as glancing at Eric.

He got up as well. The storm calmed down a little, but the rain was still falling quite heavily. Perhaps this time he could make an exception and accept the invitation. Besides a bath would be great and he fucking deserved it.

As he stepped inside the house, Obaasan was waiting for him in the hall, with a couple of towels and a white bathrobe. Was he really so predictable, he wondered. She signaled him to follow her. She stopped in front of one of the doors, pointed at them and then left quickly down the hall.

He slid the door open and immediately a pleasant aromatic scent filled his nostrils. The room had wooden floor, and in the middle of it there was a rectangle pool, large enough to accommodate five persons. Few candles were placed around to provide aromatic scent and a very discreet light. A warm humid air, coming from the hot bath gently surrounded his aching body

Yuki was already fully immerged inside the water, with her head resting against the edge of the pool. She had a small white towel over her face and seemed completely absorbed in the pleasures of the warm bath.

Eric waited at the door for few seconds, but when she gave no sign that his sudden presence disturbed her, he walked towards the hanger and began to undress. His clothes were full of mud. He placed them down on the floor and hanged the robe and the towels on the hanger, next to Yuki's robe.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked purely out of politeness, as he was going to have that well deserved hot bath no matter what.

Without moving she mumbled:"Whatever….. just make sure you shower first."

He looked around but couldn't see any shower.

"Behind the dividing wall…"he heard Yuki saying.

He finally noticed a small dividing wall which was of the same color as the rest of the walls in the room, and therefore not so easy to spot until one actually looked for it. A small shower was behind it.

He quickly washed away the mud and returned to the bath. He stepped down on small stairs into the poll, enjoying immensely as the hot water, inch by inch, covered his body. The water temperature, while probably too hot for a human, was just enough high for a vampire to feel the warmness. He dipped his head under the water, closed his eyes and stayed there for a while, almost forgetting that he was not alone. Then he leaned against the side wall of the pool and after few minutes, he could feel his body relaxing, and his headache almost gone.

He glanced towards Yuki. They were both on the same side of the pool, with a comfortable distance between them. He could see the blurry silhouette of her naked body through the still water. She was exactly in the same position as when he entered the room. He was surprised of how comfortable she felt with her nakedness and almost a bit offended by her complete disregard of his own.

After a few minutes of lingering silence, he said: "Nice gift, you gave Ginger…"

"I thought you might notice it…"

He could see her lips smirking under the towel.

"Why did you disappear yesterday?" he suddenly changed the topic.

She removed the small towel from her face and turned around, leaning with her front body against the wall of the pool. She placed her elbows outside above the edge and rested her chin on her hands. With her eyes still closed, she spoke: "Wasn't in the mood for making new acquaintances…"

Eric observed her from the side. Her hair was tied high up and it was probably the first time he could clearly see all her face without her loose hair getting on the way. Her neck was slim and rather long connecting with slightly muscular shoulders, typically defined by the usage of the sword. As she leaned on her elbows her body came out of the water just enough to expose the nipple of her right breast.

Hot bath, aromatic scent, candle light and the accidental exposure of her breast created such an erotic atmosphere that Eric got completely lost in the moment. His imagination went wild and he thought of sneaking on Yuki from behind, secure her against the wall of the pool with his body and hold down her arms until she would stop resisting, because she would surely try to, and then…

"….besides I thought you would prefer to be alone with your lady."

"Umm…what?" He had no idea what was she talking about.

"Your lady, Sookie. You should thank me, I let you take all the credit for killing the intruders."

He bit his lips to clear his mind. His brain just wasn't functioning right now. He leaned backwards stretching his hands behind and exhaled deeply, trying to think what was that they were talking about. _The evening before, right._

"So, you think I need your help to impress Sookie?" He raised an eyebrow as he suggestively looked at her. Her eyes were now open and she was observing him as well.

She chuckled and turned her head away from him.

He remembered the dinner Sookie suggested, but he decided to wait with the invitation. His eyes moved down her neck again and continued to go lower. He felt his lust increasing, and with anyone else, he would have already taken action. But with Yuki, he was not going to make the first move this time. She was way too obnoxious to give her that satisfaction again. He made a big enough mistake last night under the influence of X. He was annoyed and surprised that he still felt drawn to her in this way now, when he was sober.

He tried to think of her, the way she was in the fight, a careless and ruthless killer, hoping such image would dispel her attractiveness, but strangely it had quite the opposite effect. The situation was slowly becoming unbearable. He simply had to do something to distract himself from the lustful thoughts.

"Say Yuki, do you think I could get a cup of that bitter tea?"

"Sure, just go and ask Obaasan, she will prepare it for you."

"What do I say? She always looks at me as if I'm from another planet."

"Just ask for ocha. It's Japanese for tea, she will understand. But I would wait for a while if I were you. She is an old lady you know…"

"What are you saying?"

No response, but he heard her giggling.

Suddenly she pulled herself out from the pool and walked towards the hangers. She did it with vampire speed, but Eric still managed to glance at her naked body from behind, before she put on the bathrobe.

He was still deciding whether was a relief or more a disappointment that she left the pool, when he suddenly felt her hands on his shoulders. Her stealth abilities still surprised him and her sudden unexpected proximity made him automatically think she had some hostile intentions, so he moved forward to avoid her grip. But she gently held him back, and almost whispered to him in a soft voice that had an instant calming effect.

"Relax….I can see you are all tensed up from the practice. I think a massage might help you to feel better, " she said softly and kneeled behind his back on the floor.

"And you would do that? For me?" he asked, not trusting her for a moment.

"Sure, why not…. we are both in this shit together, no?"

Her fingers began pressing gently on his shoulders and neck.

Feelings of danger and suspicion mixing with strong sexual desire, caused Eric a strange sensation. All his senses intensified and each of her gentle press sent shivers down his spine. When the pressure of her fingers on some parts of his shoulders caused him pain, she immediately noticed it and smoothened the tension away with the palm of her hand. He liked the feeling of her touch on his body.

She pushed him gently forward so her fingers could reach his lower back. The pleasure he felt in these few minutes made up for all the suffering he had to endure throughout the training. _Perhaps, she finally came around_, he thought, returning in his mind to his previous fantasy in the water. His eyes closed, and he forgot about his suspicions.

"Yuki, I never thought I would be saying this, but your fingers are pure delight. Where did you learn to do this?"

The desire he felt now was almost painful. As she pressed a certain spot on his lower back, his fangs shoot out and he almost grabbed her and pulled her down to the pool. Somehow he managed to suppress the wild desire and decided to wait for her to finish and join him in the water afterwards, without having any doubt that eventually she will do so.

Suddenly her soft gentle voice changed to her usual cold and calm one as she said: "It's called shiatsu. It's a Japanese massage, that stimulates the body by applying pressure on certain points. You can feel your shoulders relaxed, right? Well, while on it, I pressed few other points that have a… more stimulating effect. Let's just say, I added some fuel to the fire. Enjoy!"

Before she could leave, he grabbed her by the hand and glared at her with his fangs exposed in threat. "But you like to play with fire, Yuki, I can tell. And don't pretend you are completely unaffected. I had enough experience to know when a woman wants it, even when she is as fucked up as you are. "

She pulled her hand from his grip and leaned closer with her fangs out as well: "Irrelevant. I control my desires to the point you cannot even imagine. But mind this, next time you push me against the wall and accuse me of something you better have a good reason or I will press some other points that will cause much more damage than a simple pain of lustfulness!"

Having said that she quickly retreated to the small porch just outside the room.

"Yuki!" He called after her, but there was no response.

_Fuck!_ Despite he wanted to slap her for her taunting behavior, he still very much felt the consequences of her touch that almost sent him over the edge. If he was at home he would just call Ivetta, but instead he was stuck in this house, that seemed completely void of anything even resembling fun. He never had to resort to self-pleasure and he had no intention to do so now, so it took some time before he could go descent out from the pool. He put on the robe, which was ridiculously short on him, but still better than his muddy clothes. He wrote an SMS to Pam that he was staying at Fujiwara's and left the room to look for Obaasan. He badly needed the bitter blood, and now not only for the discomfort caused by the hangover.

He was already familiar with the basic setup of the house, but with so many rooms he had no idea in which one to look for Obaasan. He decided to go towards the entrance room, supposing she might be in one of the rooms nearby.

As he was heading in that direction his hearing picked up voices, coming from one of the more distant rooms. He could easily discern Fujiwara's voice. At first he thought he was speaking in Japanese but as he stopped and listened more attentively, he realized that he was talking in English.

"…that is why I requested your personal visit on such a short notice. The situation has become very serious," he heard Fujiwara's troublesome voice.

"Yes, we know that. The mirror was already moved to another location, as a precaution. The guardians are constantly present," replied another man's voice, speaking in distinctively southern accent.

"Your people… can they be trusted?" asked Fujiwara.

"Only the guardians know about the latest developments and I am telling you now. What about your retainers? "

"My retainers get information on a need to know basis, don't worry about them," replied Fujiwara confidently.

"How the hell did he found out?"

"He has been researching this for centuries. We believe it was no coincidence he took the position of the king of Mississippi. He must have been fairly disappointed when he realized, he took the wrong state. But he knew he was close and his intended marriage with Queen Sophie Anne was in line with his plan. We were quite lucky that the local vampires got in his way, before he could continue the search. It bought us some time. We need to…"

Eric was all ears, when he suddenly saw Obaasan in front of him, looking at him warily. He put on a silly smile and greeted her awkwardly: "Oh Obaasan, I was just looking for you!"

She continued to stare at him with the same expression, her perky little eyes not moving from his.

"Ocha, please," he asked as Yuki instructed. "Two…," he added and made a V sign with his fingers, to make sure she understood.

There was no response, but she quickly walked away and disappeared in one of the rooms.

He again turned his full attention to the conversation.

"…and it is simply too risky. There is no other way but to kill him first…" said Fujiwara with very decisive voice.

"We see that now. It will be, however extremely hard, to do that without attracting too much attention."

"Don't worry, his personal grudge against some of the locals here, provides us with an excellent cover."

"We heard of your interest in the Viking. We are not so sure he is worthy of your precious time though… " said the voice with southern accent in a condescending tone.

"Is that so…. and why would you say that?" asked Fujiwara.

"Well, his maker…."

One of the doors suddenly slid open and Obaasan returned with a tray in her hand. Eric tried hard to hear the rest of the conversation but with Obaasan in front of him he could not focus enough. They were talking about his maker, what does Godric have to do with all this, he wondered, as Obaasan handed him over the tray. He hoped she would leave so he could continue eavesdropping, but she didn't . He smiled dryly at her and left with the tray.

He returned to the Ofuro room, still processing the information he just heard. His decision to stay at Fujiwara's house tonight proved to be very fruitful.

From the Ofuro room he stepped out on the wooden porch. It was much smaller than the one at the backyard and it had a zen garden extending in front of it. Eric saw few of such gardens on different occasions but the simplicity and setting of this one was exceptionally beautiful. Few stone lanterns placed around illuminated the wavy lines of sand and three larger rocks situated throughout. Even on a stormy night like this, it projected an undeniable calmness into the mind of the observer. Eric sat down next to Yuki. She was in her bathrobe, with her legs folded in seiza. Her left hand rested on her right and her thumb-tips lightly touching. Her eyes were almost closed. It looked like she was mediating.

Eric placed down the tray, took one of the cups and said quietly: "I thought you might want to have a sip as well."

She opened her eyes slightly and took a cup. She slowly sipped, looking out at the garden.

"It's beautiful," said Eric, gazing at it as well.

"I didn't know that somebody like you knew to appreciate such a subtle beauty," she said.

"You mean a barbarian like me?"

"Your words…"

"You are wrong about me. I can see beyond the coldness and hardness of the rock and sand, when I want to," he said, moving his gaze from the garden on Yuki.

As if she felt his attention on her, she turned. "What?"

"Nothing." He smiled and took another sip.

"Do you know if Fujiwara has any guests over tonight? I thought I heard some voices."

"Not that I know of," she replied.

He observed her attentively. From what he could tell so far, Fujiwara must have kept her in the dark about his plans. But he didn't want to jump to any conclusions too quickly. He felt there was more to Yuki than just an obedient, no-questions-asked loyal pawn of her master.

"Yuki, regarding earlier this night, I might have exaggerated a bit my reaction…"

"Having regrets is for men of weak spirit," she interrupted him sharply. "You are mistaken if you think I was fishing for an apology… I was only giving you a friendly warning. Besides however I might feel about it, is really none of your concern…and don't think for a second I give a shit about what you say or do… " She stood up to leave.

He smiled again, shaking his head. "Fuck you Yuki, you just have to be a bitch about it, don't you. Let me tell you something though, things are not always as they seem, and perhaps the day will come when you will need my help. And it might happen sooner than you think."

She stopped at the door. "Why would you say that?"

"So it will rack your ruthless brain, that's why."

"Go to hell…" she replied and returned to the room, sliding the door behind her.

"With you around….I am in the fucking hell…."he called after her.

He finished the cup and gazed at the garden to calm down. He was angry at himself that he let her provoke him to this point again.

Any pain he felt before was now gone and he returned to the hall. He listened for any voices, but the house was completely quiet. Fujiwara's guest must have left already and there was no sign of Fujiwara or Yuki either. Soon the sun will rise up and he still had no idea where in the house he can sleep.

He was walking aimlessly around the hall, when he almost bumped into Obaasan. She signaled him to follow her and took him towards the staircase at the end of the hallway. The staircase, which Eric used the other day to go to the upper floor, led also to another floor downstairs. This floor was much larger than the upper ones, and contained several rooms on each side of the hall. The whole floor was very dark, illuminated by only a couple of oil lamps. Obaasan led him almost until the end of the corridor, and stopped in front of one of the rooms with the door open. She gestured him to go in and then strolled back to the stairs. Obaasan was not a vampire, he knew that much, but she sure did not look human either.

The room was the same as others, nothing exceptional. There was a mattress with an oval pillow near one of the walls and besides it a small wooden bedside table with a candle. A kimono was placed over the mattress. He tried it on and like his bathrobe it was amusingly short as well. But the silk felt nicer against his skin than the rough cotton of the robe, so he kept it on. He checked his phone and smirked at Pam's message, asking him if he already spanked Yuki dressed in Japanese school uniform. The phone was almost out of battery, so he turned it off.

He removed the extremely uncomfortable oval pillow and looked around the room. He spotted a scroll painting on the wall depicting a waterfall, and that was it. He thought of the contrast between this room and his own, with his king-sized bed covered in silky sheets and various other occasional garments and devices that laid around on the floor or walls. It couldn't have been more different.

He blew out the candle and closed his eyes. He lips curled in a smile as a devious plan was conceiving in his mind. The conversation he overheard gave him a new hope. As he already suspected, Russell was not here only for revenge, but for something, which was of much greater importance to him. If he could only find out what that was and get his hands on it first, the tables would turn significantly to his advantage. He would be in the position to bargain with both, Russell and Fujiwara.

He needs to get more information, without arising any suspicions from Fujiwara. He will continue to play along as they agreed, the training was beneficial anyway. If Yuki would be more susceptible to his charms, he could influence her. It will take him a hell of an effort to do that, considering they can barely stand each other, but it was certainly worthy to try. He can be quite convincing and although it did not look like it now, he was sure that also Yuki must a have weakness somewhere. To sway her to his side would be a daring move, one which Fujiwara would certainly not expect.


	9. Chapter 9

12.

Eric opened his eyes and it took him a while to comprehend, he was waking up in one of the sleeping chambers in Fujiwara's residence. It was so awfully quiet he thought at first he awakened at the wrong hour. He slid the door open and found his clean and neatly folded clothes placed on the floor in front of his room. He dressed up and peeked into the hall again. He saw Yuki coming out from one of the rooms down the hall. She was dressed in her black training uniform. Eric quickly approached her.

"Good evening Yuki, is this your room? Can I see it?" he asked, looking at her smugly.

"No," she replied coldly and began to walk towards the stairs.

He followed her, moving along very closely. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Why are you in such a cheerful mood today?" she asked, returning him a leery look and moved slightly away from him.

"Well, considering yesterday, I am just very appreciative that I can walk around without any pain today."

"Won't last for long…" she smirked and sped up. Eric kept pace and when they arrived to the upper floor he stuck to her so close that their bodies were almost touching.

"Could you please move away a bit? I am not a very…touchy person…"she muttered.

"Why? Does my closeness make you uncomfortable?"

"Don't flatter yourself, it's just that …"

"Just that what, Yuki?" he suddenly whispered to her, brushing his lips against her ear.

She jumped away. "What the fuck is the matter with you…is this some sort of thing you always do upon your awakening?"

"Do what?"

"Never mind…..I'd focus on training if I were you. Don't think I'll go any easier on you, if you play nice," she grunted and walked swiftly towards the porch, leaving him behind.

_Patience, lots of it_… Eric sighted, as he followed her to out on the porch.

* * *

><p>The gravely ground of the backyard dried up during the day. The sky was not as dark as the previous night and stars appeared now and then as the wind dispersed the clouds.<p>

Yuki was waiting with her sword ready and Eric joined her after he took his white bokuto from the corner of the porch. Just as he positioned himself in a good distance from Yuki, Fujiwara appeared at the door.

"How nice to see both of you ready in such an early hour! Let's not waste any time and begin. Hajime!" he shouted as he walked towards his little stage.

Eric only glanced in Fujiwara's direction, but it was enough to lose Yuki from his sight. He frantically turned around but when he finally saw her, it was already too late and he received a blow. Soon after he got another one. She was moving so fast he could not determine which direction the strikes were coming from. There was no sound of the bells to alert him in time. Last night, when his mind was preoccupied with pain he did not even notice that the bells were missing, but now that he knew about it, it completely messed up all his senses. He didn't know on what to focus anymore and his attention was spread all over.

The training lasted again longer than usual and the expected break didn't take place. Eric was sure they were in for another whole night training. At least this time he was in much better physical condition, but so was Yuki, and she seemed unstoppable, practically smashing him with her sword. Nothing he tried worked and by the time Fujiwara called to stop, he was so frustrated, that he didn't even bother to try.

He was on his knees leaning with both hands on his sword stuck in the ground, when the training finished. Yuki bowed to Fujiwara with a self-satisfied smile on her face and disappeared inside the house.

Eric, seeing Fujiwara walking towards him, got on his feet.

"Eric san, your spirit was very low today. What happened?"

"It's useless….everything I did was useless," he replied annoyed.

"If you could stop Yuki yesterday, it means you are perfectly able to do so also today. The problem was in your focus. You were searching for an outside stimuli to rely on, the vision, the sound of the bells, and so on, but when you fight on this level you cannot depend solely on the usual senses. You will be too slow. You need to discipline yourself and feel your opponent's energy and recognize when it transforms into an attack."

Eric remained quiet. Everything Fujiwara said made perfect sense, until the fight began. Then the course of events seemed to follow a logic of its own.

"Eric san, don't beat yourself up too much. Stealth techniques are Yuki's specialty. It takes time to learn her movements, even for the best ones…" said Fujiwara, seeing Eric's frustration.

"It's kind of you to say all this, but the fact is quite simple - I just sucked today."

Fujiwara looked at him for a second and then laughed out loud.

"Eric san, it's healthy to take things in good humor. Listen, I stopped the practice earlier tonight, because I would like to invite you to a tea ceremony. Please feel free to take a shower and then join us in the tea room. Obaasan will show you where it is."

Without waiting for Eric's answer, Fujiwara returned to the house. Eric felt again as if the polite invitation was actually an order he was not supposed to refuse.

He went straight in the Ofuro room, thinking of the hot bath. He quickly showered and rushed towards the pool, when the door opened and Obaasan entered. It was an awkward situation, Eric being completely naked, but Obaasan did not seem to mind and she looked at him with the expressionless face, as if the fact that he was standing in front of her without any clothes, bore no relevance at all.

She waved her finger at him not to go inside the pool and gave him some clothes. It was a type of traditional male kimono in grey color and she was obviously expecting him to try it on in her presence. He thought the whole thing was a bit weird, but obeyed and put the kimono on. The sleeves were quite short and the length of it barely covered his knees. He didn't know, if it supposed to be this way or not, until Obaasan began to laugh. He took it as a definite sign that the measurements must be well off. Her laugh was kind of impish and when she grinned, Eric noticed her teeth were completely blackened. He decided he preferred her usual unexpressive face much more than her joyful one. She stepped closer, tied a sash around his waist, and gave him a thigh length loose jacket in black color to put over the kimono.

Not being used to this kind of clothes, Eric felt highly uncomfortable, but before he had a chance to protest, Obaasan pulled him by the sleeve and he followed her to another room across the hall. It was a larger room, connected with another smaller one. On one side of the room there was a small hearth, built into the tatami floor and hanging above it an iron cattle. Few cups and spoons were placed around it. A scroll featuring a painting of a bird was hanged on the nearest wall and a vase with some flowers stood on a shelf. Obaasan left and Eric wondered what kind of weird Japanese custom was he in for this time. As he sat down on the tatami floor, Yuki entered the room.

She was dressed in Japanese traditional clothes as well, but this time instead of her training uniform she wore a woman's kimono in white color with a pattern of gentle pink flowers. She had a wide sash around her waist and her hair was tied up in a bun with a flower pin attached to it. Her feminine look caught Eric completely off guard and he could not stop staring at her, but the insolent tone of her voice when she said "Move!" quickly reminded him that it was only her outside appearance that underwent a pleasant change.

"What happened to you?" he asked, following her with his stare as she passed him and sat down on his right side.

"Very funny…you look ridiculous as well…"

"I didn't say you look ridiculous…in fact I think…"

"It's a tea ceremony…Fujisama always insists I wear at least a yukata for it," she said and made a face.

Eric had to smile, she looked even more uncomfortable in her clothes than he felt in his. He tried hard to come up with some flattering line, but her cheeky behavior robbed him of any nice words and he was glad he was able to refrain from making cynical remarks, which kept coming to his mind in abundance.

"So what are we doing here? What is this tea ceremony?" he asked instead.

"Well, Fujisama is, among other things, also a tea master, and he likes to show off by organizing such tea gatherings from time to time. He enjoys it especially if there are new guests. Make sure you praise him."

"And we are going to drink, what exactly?"asked Eric, slightly worried.

"Something similar to the blood we've been drinking during the breaks, only better. The ceremony had to be of course adjusted to the vampire needs. Fujisama has been doing it for centuries now and he is a well respected tea master among vampires and humans also."

"Ok…so what am I suppose to do?"

"Just drink tea," she said and smiled at him, battering her eyelashes.

_It sounds simple enough_, thought Eric and assumed the same seiza position like Yuki.

Fujiwara walked into the room from the small adjoining place, carrying a large clay container. He was wearing his usual traditional clothing, but this time with a different, much more colorful pattern. He bowed to his two guests and with slow steps proceeded towards the hearth. His movements were very ceremonial.

To Eric it all looked exaggerated and slightly comic. He leaned towards Yuki and wanted to whisper something to her, but before he had a chance to do so, she poked him in the ribs with the elbow and shot him a scolding look.

Fujiwara, undisturbed by their commotion, continued the ceremony by sitting down at the hearth and placing the container next to it. He then with flowing movements, in a manner as if each of his gestures, even the smallest one, was of the utmost importance, unloaded some of the liquid from the container into the iron cattle and, taking a long bamboo scoop, stirred it couple of times.

The slowness of Fujiwara's movements made Eric feel like he was trapped in time. He was not used to sit in seiza and every time he moved to release his legs a bit, he met Yuki's reprimanding stare. After sitting in the same position for some time and observing the painfully slow process, the ceremony turned into a kind of torture.

He perceived the perfect harmony behind Fujiwara's moves, understood the high level of skill and concentration required for it and appreciated the beauty of it all. Yet he felt an immense relief when Fujiwara finally poured some of the liquid from the cattle into a small bowl and placed it in front of Yuki.

She first admired it for a while and then took it with her right hand placing it on the palm of her left. She turned it around twice before she made a sip, after which she said something in Japanese to Fujiwara. Eric was watching attentively her graceful movements. She made another sip, turned it again two times and placed it in front of Eric.

He stared at the bowl, trying to remember the sequence of Yuki's movements. He glanced back and forth between Fujiwara and Yuki, untill her eyes gestured him to take the bowl.

He picked it up, but unsure whether to use his left or right hand, he exchanged it a couple of times in his hands, untill he placed it in his left palm. He received an approving nod from Yuki and was about to make a sip, when she stopped him and turned the bowl first. Then she signalled him to continue.

He took a sip and tasted the warm texture of the blood. Its temperature was perfect and although similar to the usual bitter blood the taste was much more prominent. As he drank Fujiwara and Yuki were observing him. Yuki gave him no further sign, so he continued sipping until he emptied the bowl and was about to place it down, when Yuki intervened again and turned the cup another two times.

He felt like an elephant in a glass store. Comparing to Yuki's and Fujiwara's graceful and focused movements, his were clumsy and undecisive. With the bowl placed in front of him, he was not sure of what to do next. They were both quiet as if waiting for him to make a mistake. Finally Yuki whispered to him: »You should say few words about the tea and admire the cup.«

»What? What the fuck am I suppose to say?« he whispered back rather loudly.

»Shhh...just say something...praise its taste..anything...«

"Mr. Fujiwara, the blood, I mean the tea was….it tasted like….the blood of a virgin, just before….just as she is ready to…well… I suppose we all know what I mean, don't we…"

He saw Yuki rolling her eyes.

"And the cup…" he looked at the plain bowl with what it seemed like a leaf drawn on it, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't find any appropriate words. "It's… it's….well, I never drank blood from a cup like this before…ever…" he finally uttered.

Yuki put her hand across her mouth and he could hear her giggling. Fujiwara smiled and he seemed quite content. He placed the used utensils on a tray and in the same ceremonial way retreated to the small room.

After Fujiwara left Eric immediately turned to Yuki: "What the fuck was that? Why didn't you warn me before? I thought if I move my little finger incorrectly, Fujiwara will cut me in half with his stare."

"I told you we were going to have tea….. and you didn't have to admire the bowl out loud." Her giggling intensified.

"Thanks for telling me now. If that means drinking tea, I'm afraid to ask what kind of ceremony you have for other activities."

"You are such an ass…but …"she started to laugh out loud. "I never saw somebody so stressed at the tea ceremony…"

Her heartful laugh was contagious, and Eric felt a strange pleasure seeing Yuki so openly happy.

"You need to….ummm, how to say, be imaginative and speak with interest, but without being intrusive or too obvious. As if you would flatter a woman, perhaps that's the easiest comparison for you to understand." Her voice sounded gentle and her eyes were still smiling, while she was explaining to Eric how to behave at such events. In her white flowery dress she appeared to him particularly charming.

Fujiwara returned from the small room and joined them.

"Eric san, I hope you enjoyed it. I don't pretend to master the way of the tea but I try my best," he said and humbly bowed his head.

Eric glanced at Yuki and said:"You are being too modest, Mr Fujiwara, your moves were executed with perfection. Even an untrained eye like mine could notice that."

"You are too kind Eric san," said Fujiwara bowing again, clearly flattered by his words and then continued: "You see, the way of the tea is not much different from the way of the sword."

"Forgive me if I don't see many similarities."

"In the tea ceremony, each action is performed in a very specific way and it requires technique. But to master the technique is just the beginning. A good tea master will make the most complicated things seem utterly simple. His every movement will reflect harmony and will appear perfectly natural. To achieve this one must not think about what he is doing. You need to free your movements from the control of your mind. It is the same with fighting. The technique is useful, but only when internalized to the point that the body performs it instinctively. When you think of doing this or that cut with the sword, it is usually too late."

"I'm afraid I'm even more confused now," said Eric sincerely.

Fujiwara placed his hand on Eric's shoulder and said with a serious face: "Eric san, I am here to guide you through the mist of your confusion." Then he laughed out heartily.

Yuki was smiling and looking proudly at Eric. He felt some positive energy building up between them and he hoped Fujiwara would leave, so he could spend some time alone with her. As he was thinking of the ways on how to make this happen, Fujiwara said to Yuki something in Japanese and she clapped her hands enthusiastically. He then explained to Eric, that in few minutes there will be also a dancing and singing performance, and that he was welcome to stay.

Slightly disappointed that things will not go exactly according to his plan, Eric nevertheless agreed and, intrigued by the enthusiastic reaction of Yuki, decided to see the performance.

Obaasan entered with a tray of few bottles of X and cups of bitter tea. Fujiwara offered X to Eric, but he politely declined. The horrible hangover was still too vividly present in his mind. He took a cup of bitter tea instead. Fujiwara poured a cup of X for Yuki and himself and after Obaasan left, he clapped his hands loudly.

Eric's face turned bleak as he recognized the person that entered the room. It was Fujiwara's security man in charge of protecting Sookie. Dressed in Japanese traditional clothes, he walked across the room and stopped somewhere in the middle. He assumed a standing pose, spread a fan and began to sing.

_"Ningen Gojuunen,__**  
><strong>__Geten no uchi wo kurabureba..."_

The performance was in line with Japanese Noh plays, Eric knew that much, but he could hardly associate it with any kind of singing or dancing to his taste. His averse disposition was influenced also by the dislike he felt for the performer and this deepened even more when he noticed the growing admiration in Yuki's eyes. The bastard not only ruined his plans to stay alone with Yuki, but also got her complete attention

Fujiwara sat closer to Eric and in low voice began to explain about the performance. "Masaki san is performing Atsumori. It's a performance taken from a Noh play. It is basically a warrior hymn and it served also as a kind of a ritual for a samurai before a battle."

"It seems Yuki is quite fond of it," replied Eric somewhat dryly.

"Oh yes," smiled Fujiwara."It was her Lord's favorite. He sang and danced it before his battles."

"You mean her human lord?"

"Not just any human. Yuki was a member of Oda clan and her lord was no other than Oda Nobunaga. She took his name after he died. You must have heard of him. She was his right hand, his general and chief strategist. He imprisoned her during one of the raids on local ronin bands. She was already turned at the time. He was much younger than her in human years, but smart enough to recognize her value. He offered her a position within his clan and since then they were inseparable. It was a heavy blow to her, when he was killed."

Eric had to admit, he lacked any decent knowledge about Japanese history. "Was it common for humans in Japan to employ vampires?"

"No, not so common, but it wasn't something unimaginable either. You see, in Japan the belief in other beings is not so unusual as it is for example in the West. And humans were known to sometimes…..cooperate, although very discreetly, with other entities or spirits, as we say. Vampires were just one of the many. But the truth is that such cooperation was usually not very successful, except in rare cases."

"Why would a strong vampire like Yuki submit to a mere human?"

"That is certainly something you would need to ask her, but I don't think that the fact he was human bore any relevance. Sometimes we find qualities in the other, that give a whole new meaning to our existence and for that we are willing to kill and die for, even when that other is ranked below us on a food chain." Fujiwara suggestively looked at Eric as he spoke these words.

Eric avoided his stare and looked at Yuki. She held her hands together in admiration of the performance, but glanced towards him just in time to meet his stare. She smiled and quickly returned her attention to the performance, which was coming to an end.

Masaki bowed deeply, and Yuki, as well as Fujiwara clapped loudly. Eric clapped his hands few times not to come across as too impolite. He could easily see in Masaki's eyes that the feeling of aversion was mutual.

"Eric san, permit me to introduce Masaki san. He is my chief security officer and his main task is to make sure Sookie is safe," said Fujiwara as he offered a cup of X to Masaki.

A cold stare reflected in their eyes as they bowed to each other.

"He is one of my best men," added Fujiwara proudly.

Eric acknowledged it with a contemptuous smirk, keeping his eyes on Masaki as he sat down next to Yuki and began to converse with her in Japanese.

"Shouldn't he be at the mansion?" asked Eric annoyed by Masaki's prolonged stay.

"His men Inoue and Iseki san are there at the moment. They are both humans so they can keep close watch also during the day."

"And do you think humans will do? Russell operates with werewolves…"

"They are well trained for that, don't worry. I believe you had a chance to witness their skills in the last attack?"

Eric simply nodded, not wanting to give Fujiwara any extra details about the attack.

"Anyway, after that incident we scanned the area thoroughly and currently there is no sign of any hostile activity," Fujiwara continued.

_Of course, Russell must have directed his full attention to the other task_, thought Eric to himself, remembering Fujiwara's conversation from last night.

"I don't have many personnel at my disposal here, but I can guarantee you Masaki san and his team are the best I can provide. So you can relax and focus on your training without worrying about anything else," said Fujiwara assuringly.

Eric made few sips of the bitter tea and looked again at Yuki and Masaki, who seemed fully immersed in the conversation, as if they were alone in the room. Fujiwara poured himself a second cup of X and kept grinning with no particular reason. He seemed very relaxed and Eric thought it was a good opportunity to ask him some more questions.

"How was it that Yuki became involved in warfare and so skilled in sword fighting? I would imagine it was not a common thing for women to engage in such activities, especially at that time in Japan," he asked Fujiwara casually, as if he was only making conversation.

"You are right, it wasn't. But a different destiny was set out for Yuki than for most of the women already from her human birth. She was born in a shinobi village. Shinobi clans used to live in remote, hardly accessible villages and it was common practice back then that the whole village was trained in one or many arts of shinobi. The daimyo, war lords, used to recruit from these villages and shinobi were hired as mercenaries to do tasks such as intelligence gathering, assassinations, smaller assaults, ambushes and other similar, covert tasks."

"Shinobi…. isn't that another word for a ninja?" asked Eric, listening with interest to every word Fujiwara said.

"Yes, but ninja is a term used mostly outside Japan. In Japan they were commonly referred to as shinobi, and Yuki was a kunoichi, a female shinobi."

"So Yuki was what exactly? A trained assassin?"

"Among other stuff, yes. With her father being the head of the village, she was educated and proficient in different arts. As I mentioned before, when she served the Oda clan, she was their chief military strategist. She was raised as kunoichi since the day she was born, but it was the samurai way of life that always attracted her. In Oda clan she finally got her chance. Her shinobi upbringing is still very much instilled in her though. You probably noticed her excellent stealth abilities. If she is so good in it, it's because she was trained for that since her childhood. The way you lived your human life always determines what kind of vampire you continue to be. It defines your skills as well as your character. Of course you can learn many new things, but the core of what you were as a human always plays an important part, regardless of the time passed."

"An interesting theory. But I'm afraid that if you are correct, the two things I would excel in are drinking and women," remarked Eric cynically.

"Eric san, I am quite sure it is not only that. You are a Viking after all. Your soul is that of a ruthless but noble warrior, that can be quite seen."

"And how exactly do you see that…by my superb fighting performance against Yuki?"

Fujiwara laughed. "You are doing fine Eric san, don't worry. Yuki is a tough opponent, stronger than you think. I warned you about that since the beginning, and you still refuse to believe it. But you are improving much faster than we expected, you just don't realize it yet."

Eric pursed his lips in disbelief and glanced again towards Yuki and Masaki in hope that Masaki would soon leave, but their vivacious chatting, laughing and sipping X at leisure indicated the opposite. He found their unintentional disregard for anyone else in the room quite bothering.

"Are they from the same village?" he asked Fujiwara.

"With Masaki san? No, no, Masaki san was a samurai."

A puzzled expression appeared on Eric's face.

"I suppose it is not an obvious thing for you…..it is common knowledge in Japan that samurai and shinobi did not get along very well. There were many differences, even rivalry, between them. Their social roles as well as their way of warfare differed greatly. Samurai were members of a higher class and they strongly believed in the code of honor. Their fighting was upfront and they preferred to confront the enemy face to face. Shinobi, on the other hand, usually came from lower classes and they used every means necessary to complete their tasks. Their methods were covert, sneaky, and they used deception or other unconventional means. They were looked down on by the samurai and other nobility, but were indispensable and used equally by all of them," explained Fujiwara. "Masaki san is one of my senior retainers. He comes from a long line of samurai, and when he was turned, his wish was to continue to serve as such. After I took Yuki in, he was her trainer for a while. She soon surpassed him, but they remained very close."

"I see…and you Mr Fujiwara, which side or class were you affiliated with?" asked Eric, hoping that X loosened Fujiwara's tongue enough to reveal some personal information.

"Oh, I never cared much about class divisions and their limitations. I simply went along with different positions I was assigned when structures of society changed throughout the time. I prefer to surround myself with company of quality rather than that of titles," Fujiwara elegantly responded to Eric's prying question and with a smiling face raised his cup at him.

_The old man always keeps his guard up_, thought Eric and turned his attention to Yuki. She seemed so relaxed and comfortable with Masaki. He couldn't tell if their relationship was that of friends or lovers. Yuki gave no signs at all, but he immediately noticed, that Masaki's expectations went beyond that of a friendship. It crossed his mind that Masaki could be an obstacle to his plan. But that was not the only thing that bothered him. Yuki's eyes beamed with a certain kind of joy and liveliness that was very rarely seen in a vampire and although reluctant to admit it, at that moment he envied Masaki for the way Yuki interacted with him and wished he was in his place.

"There is something in Yuki, something undeterminable, that captivates other vampires quite easily, wouldn't you agree, Eric san?"

The question caught Eric by surprise, and he got this unpleasant feeling that Fujiwara could see right through him.

"How did she become a vampire?" he tried to divert Fujiwara's attention away from himself.

"You better ask her that, I only know few details. She doesn't really like to speak about her past," answered Fujiwara, but Eric could soon feel his prying eyes on him again.

"Allow me to give you a small advice Eric san, if I may…." He leaned closer to Eric as he spoke and his voice sounded drunk. "Do not let yourself think that Yuki will ever look at you any differently than her job requires. You will be very disappointed and it would be a waste of time."

Eric flinched. _Was Fujiwara suspecting anything? Why the hell would he say something like that?_

"Mr. Fujiwara, I assure you, you could not be more mistaken if you think I might have any particular interest in Yuki," he rushed to deny.

"I hope so, Eric san, I really hope so…." said Fujiwara, tapped him on the shoulder, and grinned.

Eric sipped from his cup. Fujiwara's observations made him nervous. Yuki was still talking to Masaki and it didn't look like they will part any time soon, so he decided to leave.

"Mr. Fujiwara, I hope it won't be too much of a burden if I spend another day at your residence?"

"Of course not, Eric san. Stay as much as you want, it's a great pleasure having you here."

"Thank you very much. I believe I will go to my room now and contemplate some more on the mistakes I made at tonight's training."

"Very good idea! Tomorrow I want you to be fully focused and to break Yuki's defense."

"We'll see about that…" replied Eric with a resigned smile. He didn't really believe he will be able to do that any time soon.

"Good night!" he said to everyone and stood up to leave.

Fujiwara and Masaki bowed, while Yuki asked surprised: "Going already?"

"I have to prepare for our date in the backyard tomorrow…" said Eric with some sarcasm.

"I don't think any preparation will help much…" she grinned back.

Eric waved his hand and left the room. Pretty dress or not, her annoying personality was still the same.

He went down the stairs to the lower floor as fast as he could. There was something else he was planning to do, while they were up there drinking. He smirked, as he slid the door open and stepped into Yuki's room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Thank you for reading. Please review if you like! PW - *bows* thank you very much for your comments, they are most inspiring. ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

13.

Considering Yuki's character Eric did not know what to expect her room to be like. He thought of walls in black or purple color, she seemed so fond of, or maybe of a semi robotized room with all kinds of electronic devices or perhaps even of a room stuffed with pelush animals and dolls, but these were all mostly TV influenced images he had about Japanese. None of them, however, was close to what the room turned out to be.

Except for the added closet and a small table, Yuki's room looked pretty much the same as the guest room he was sleeping in, void of any personalization. Only two things stood out in this otherwise Spartan setting and were proofs that the room was actually being used by somebody: quite a few books scattered on the small table and a stand with two Japanese swords near the mattress.

Eric walked over to the table and went quickly through the books. To his surprise he realized, all the books were about Vikings. Some were in English some in Japanese, but he could tell by cover pictures, if not by their titles, that they spoke of history, battles and one of them even about eating habits of a life he lived as a human.

He smirked. Whatever the reason Yuki had to read all these books, it indicated a certain interest on her part - an interest in him.

He opened the closet and briefly examined its content. It was filled with Yuki's clothing, mainly t-shirts and few pants in mostly black or purple color. Apart from few accessories on the shelves, there was not much else in there, nothing at least that would provide him with any useful information. Hanging in the corner, he recognized her white uniform she wore at their first training. The huge stain of his blood was still there.

Slightly disappointed, Eric closed the closet and turned his attention to the two swords. He took one of them and examined it. It was rather light comparing to the swords he was used to, but when he drew out the blade, he could immediately recognize the quality of it. It was flawless and extremely sharp. The sword was plain with no garments except for its guard, which had a dragon on it.

He placed the sword back and took the second one. It was slightly longer and heavier. The guard was in a shape of a flower, which looked familiar to him. The sword handle had on each side two small ornaments in a shape of a dragonfly. As he was drawing the sword out, despite doing it very carefully, the blade cut his hand holding the scabbard, right between his thumb and index finger. It happened so fast and the blade was so sharp he almost didn't feel the cut until he saw few blood drops on the blade. He watched the small wound closing, and then extracted the rest of the blade. His arm slightly trembled as he held the sword fully exposed in his hand. He never saw a sword of such beauty. The unique wavy pattern, a result of a complicated tempering process used by Japanese swordsmiths, was exactly the same on both sides of the blade, and the perfectly crafted steel reflected a slightly blue glow. Eric felt as if the blade enchanted him. He could not remove his eyes from it. He placed the scabbard on the floor, gripped the sword with both of his hands and performed few cuts. The balance, the sound it made as he cut through the air, the way it felt in his hand, it all seemed perfect.

"Put it back…" said a sudden voice behind him.

He turned and saw Yuki standing at the door, looking quite gloomy. Fujiwara warned him about her stealth abilities, but he was so mesmerized by the sword that he probably wouldn't hear her coming even if she wore wooden clogs.

Her eyes beamed with a strange intensity. He never saw so much emotion in them before.

"Put it back immediately…" she repeated coldly.

"Yuki, I … is this your sword?"

She took the sword from his hand, and sheathed it back in the scabbard. She held it up with both hands, bowed to it and then placed it back on the stand. Then she turned to him, her eyes glaring with anger.

"Get out!"

"Why, are you expecting some company?" he probed cynically.

"You are lucky I had few sips of X…. now get out!" she repeated in a more threatening tone.

Eric stepped towards the door but just as he was about to exit the room, he changed his mind, and walked up to her.

"Since when the history of Vikings interest you so much?" Almost a head taller, he looked down to meet her eyes. He could see the question made her feel uncomfortable. With a smug glow on his face, he was waiting for her response. She shifted her eyes away from his stare, towards the table.

"I always do research on what or whoever I have to deal with closely."

"That's a lot of books Yuki. What were you expecting to find in them? Do you seriously believe you can get to know me better by learning about a history I am not part of since long ago?"

"What you were as a human…determines…" she got stuck on her words as she was trying to explain.

"Determines you as a vampire, yes I heard this already from your master…" he cut in.

His control was growing with each second.

"If you have any questions, you could have just asked me….I'm sure I would be able to give you a more accurate picture than a bunch of historical books."

She smiled. "Oh, you are good. You are very good. You are trying to divert my attention from the fact that you practically broke into my room, and snooped around my stuff."

"I was just doing…research…"

"I'm not your enemy…" she said bleakly, pushed him away and sat down on the mattress. He observed her fingers playing with the medallion she wore around her neck. He finally remembered why the guard on the beautiful sword looked so familiar. It was the same shape as Yuki's medallion.

"Neither I am yours..." he said calmly and sat down next to her.

She looked at him frowning. "What do you think you are doing? I told you to leave…"

"I'd like to talk some more…" he said, leaned back on his elbows and tapped on the mattress for her to come closer.

She stared at him as if she didn't understand his gesture and then buried her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking and at first he thought she started to cry. It soon became clear she was laughing.

When she finally stopped, she looked at him with the most condescending expression. "Listen to me Eric very carefully….if I see you in my room again I will use one of those swords on you, is that clear?"

"A threat from you? Interesting…"

"Take it as you wish…"

Suddenly the voices of Fujiwara and Masaki were heard from the hall. He reacted immediately and before Yuki finished her sentence, he put his hand over her mouth and pushed her down on the mattress. He signaled her to be quiet. She tried to free herself, but under the weight of his body she could barely move.

The voices on the hall went silent. He held her down a little longer as he found himself enjoying the moments of finally having her under control. She seemed so vulnerable in her yukata dress and her gentle perfume, on which Eric randomly decided it must be cherry blossom, was quite intoxicated. Gazing into her furious eyes, he was well aware this bold move won't be simply forgotten.

"Promise me you won't scream…."he said releasing his hand a bit.

She gasped in anger: "Why the fuck would I scream?"

"I just didn't want Fujiwara to know I'm in your room, could have been awkward…I'm sure we can agree on that."

He passed his hand gently over her face, before he released her. As if by reflex, she moved her head away from his touch.

"I should do this more often, you look extremely sexy when angry…" he said, smiling confidently as he stood up.

"Your insolent behavior will cost you dearly tomorrow…" she replied in a daring tone.

He could feel her stare as he left the room. He was beginning to enjoy the game.

* * *

><p>The next evening Eric ran up to the porch as soon as he awakened. He wanted to prepare and focus well before the fight. But as he slid the door open, Fujiwara was already there. He was moving around the backyard, cutting through the air with a sword. Eric sat down on the porch and observed him.<p>

Fujiwara had a real sword in his hand, not a wooden one. He drew it from the scabbard, performed few cuts and then sheathed it back. He did this repeatedly, each time moving and cutting in a different way. Eric could actually see the imaginary opponents Fujiwara was cutting down with his sword, so precise and powerful were his movements. In the perfection and lightness, with which each cut was executed, he almost perceived the similarities with the tea ceremony. Still, the sword made much more sense to him than pouring blood in a painted cup, and he observed Fujiwara with utmost interest.

When he finished, Fujiwara approached smilingly.

"Good evening Eric san. I saw you watched me performing some of the kata with the sword. Could you understand what I was doing?"

"Each situation had a different number of opponents coming from different sides and with different attacks. You parried them all and cut them down."

"Exactly. You observe well."

"May I see your sword?"

"Of course, please…" said Fujiwara, took his sword from behind the sash of his hakama and gave it to him.

Eric examined it attentively. It was another sword of excellent quality, but not nearly as beautiful as the one in Yuki's room. He returned it to Fujiwara and said: "Last night I had a chance to see a sword of Yuki. It had a lovely blue glow and it was obviously done by a master swordsmith."

"You probably saw the Muramasa then. It was actually her Lord's sword and she takes it everywhere with her. You are right, it is a masterpiece. Have you heard of Muramasa's swords?"

"No," replied Eric, remembering Yuki's emotional reaction when she caught him with the sword.

"Muramasa was a famous swordsmith. He was very skillful but the obsession with his work drove him almost to the point of madness. It is said, his swords were so good because he poured his soul into the blades, but with it also his madness dripped inside. Once unsheathed, the Muramasa sword has to draw blood before it can be put back into the scabbard, even if it's the blood of its owner. The blue glow reflects its cold blood thirsty nature. It is almost impossible to find a Muramasa these days. Most of them were destroyed by the Tokugawa shoguns who believed Muramasa blades were an ill omen for their clan. But all these are just local legends and baseless rumors of course. The fact is that Muramasa swords are pure beauties, perfection in itself, and there is no sword sharper than them."

Eric nodded in agreement.

"Yuki must have grown quite fond of you, if she showed you that sword," remarked Fujiwara, eyeing Eric attentively.

"I suppose she just wanted to share her interest in swords with somebody," replied Eric as casually as possible.

"Ah, Yuki, we were just talking about you. Eric told me you were kind enough to show him your Muramasa," Fujiwara turned to Yuki, who appeared at the door.

She took her time to answer. Eric became tense. He was hoping she will play along. He wouldn't like Fujiwara to know that he was sniffing around. He also knew she was stalling on purpose, enjoying leaving him in suspense.

"Yes, I did, didn't I….well after he told me about his interest in swords, I could hardly deprive him of such beauty as Muramasa. He was most impressed with it, weren't you Eric?"

"I most certainly was. But I believe we should start with the training…" He wished to leave this conversation as soon as possible, but Yuki stubbornly continued.

"In fact he was so impressed by the high quality and traditions of our culture, that he even asked me if he could wear one of traditional clothes for today's training, in order to identify more deeply with the spirit of the samurai, isn't that so Eric?"

There was a strong urge in him to put his hands around her thin neck and squeeze.

"Yes…but I really don't think we have time for this now…" he smiled politely.

"Nonsense, Eric san! I have a spare practicing uniform prepared for you since you first came here. I am glad you are finally willing to try it on. I am most happy! Come, I will show you how its tied, " exclaimed Fujiwara enthusiastically.

Eric unwillingly followed. Before leaving the porch, he gave a prolonged look at Yuki and drew his fingers across the front of his throat in a slashing motion_. _He could see a wide grin on her face, and her middle finger raised at him.

Fujiwara gave him the same clothes that Yuki and he wore at trainings. To make the things worse he had no idea how to tie the hakama, and Fujiwara had to do it for him. To wear such clothes at some tea ceremony was one thing, but to fight in them was just ridiculous. _Fucking samurai_, he though when he looked down on his wide skirt like pants.

When they returned to the porch, Fujiwara had a proud smile on his face, while Eric could not look more sullen. Yuki, already waiting in the backyard, turned to the side and covered her mouth to hide her laughter.

"It is a bit short, but I think he looks almost as a true samurai, wouldn't you say so Yuki?" asked Fujiwara.

She was now laughing so hard she couldn't even respond.

"Ah, what do women know…never mind her Eric san," said Fujiwara dismissively and strolled to his podium.

Eric knew, as it was the case with all the clothes he received in this house, that the measurements were not suitable for his height. His hakama was considerably shorter than that of Yuki or Fujiwara and while theirs elegantly covered the whole length of their legs and hid their feet, his stopped short after the knees.

The training began and as they clinched together from time to time, the mocking expression on Yuki's face was hard to ignore.

"Your silly little joke seems to amuse you very much…" he whispered to her.

"That was just a small retribution for breaking into my room, the real payback is about to follow," she whispered back and pushed him away. And indeed, she kept the promise. Several of his bones got broken throughout the training and as much as Fujiwara tried to help him with comments and advice, he could not really do anything. If he managed to pair her attacks now and then it was purely out of luck

It was another frustrating session for Eric, with no progress at all and at the end of the night he felt the training was one of the worst so far.

He changed back to his clothes and bid a quick farewell. He was in a very bad mood and wanted to avoid any interaction with Yuki. She had that self satisfying glow on her face that could easily provoke him into doing something stupid. She played him like a fool, and while he was planning to return the favor in the fight, at the end, he wasn't able to do shit.

* * *

><p>The club already closed when Eric arrived home. He found Pam in her office.<p>

"Just let me know when you are moving, so I can take your bedroom," said Pam cynically, after he sat himself comfortable in the armchair.

He realized he spent almost three days at Fujiwara's. He was happy to see Pam missed him. Her edgy tone gave her away.

"Pam…everything normal around here?"

"Sure, but…"

"Good, I have a favor to ask. I want you to…."

"Eric, I have something to tell you…"

"Let me finish first. I want you to find any information regarding a certain Japanese warlord, called Oda Nobunaga. I need you to do that by tomorrow, ok?" "

"What? What the fuck Eric… where am I supposed to get the info?"

"I don't know, got to library or something, ask somebody that knows Japanese history. I don't care how you do it….."

"Library? You are joking right?"

"No, I'm not. Pam, it is very important that you provide me this information."

She stared at his serious face for a moment.

"Fine…just note that I'm not happy about it at all."

"I can deal with that." He glanced at her playfully and left the office.

As he was passing one of the rooms, he felt something. He immediately stopped and opened the door.

"I tried to tell you…" he heard Pam whispering behind his back. "I had to put up with her since yesterday. She insisted to stay here and wait for you."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I did. Your phone was off."

"You surely tried very hard to let me know…"

Pam smirked.

"It's not like I enjoyed her company," she replied and walked away.

Eric entered the room quietly. His eyes gazed upon an unexpected guest. Sookie was sleeping soundly on his red sofa.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Please feel free to review and many thanks for all the comments so far.**


	11. Chapter 11

14.

There were quite few things of a rather wicked character that happened on this particular sofa, and Sookie sleeping so peacefully on it, appeared to Eric like an innocent lamb, that wandered off from its flock and unknowingly fall asleep in a wolf's den. He listened to her steady heartbeat, and while not particularly loving the allusion to the weres, Eric at that moment did feel a bit like the big bad wolf.

He approached the sofa, still gazing at Sookie quietly, indecisive of what to do. The sun was to rise soon, but he didn't want to wake her either.

She suddenly turned on the side, and was now facing him, still sleeping tight. Her short blue dress fell across her knees, exposing her thighs considerably. Her hands were crossed tightly against her chest, making the cleavage more prominent and the tops of her breasts pressing seductively against each other.

Eric's fangs slid out.

He leaned closer and inhaled her smell. His eyes got stuck at her cleavage and the crave to plunge his fangs into her half exposed breasts dragged him closer to her, until he was but an inch away from her barren flesh.

She let out a small moan, moved her head slightly and opened her eyes.

He found himself staring up into her bewildered eyes as he was leaning on his knee near the sofa with his face inappropriately close to her breasts.

"Eric!" she shouted and immediately sat up, adjusting her dress.

He retreated his fangs and stood up.

"Sookie, what an unexpected pleasure to find you here," he said smirking at her. "...and in such a willing position…"

"You better stop with your sauciness, I just came here to set a date for the dinner."

"Ah, that…" he sighted and sat down next to her. Disappointments seemed to be piling up for tonight. "You could have just called, you know…"

"Why, is there a problem of me visiting you in Fangtasia?"

"You mean apart from the issue of your safety, walking around on your own…and the fact that there is nobody to protect you here if I am not around…"

"I wasn't expecting you NOT to be here…"

"Sookie, as much as I know you would like me to be at your complete disposal, I am not Bill to wait on your constantly changing whims."

"I suppose you are waiting on those of the Japanese now. So you are also sleeping there now?" she asked in an offended voice.

He paused for a second, fixed his eyes on her and continued in an unfriendly tone: "Listen to me….I am not in a very good mood today. I had quite a few bones broken, still feeling the pain all over my body and I had to wear a very ridiculous outfit. So…I really had enough of humiliation and disparaging comments on my account for one night and unless you want to use your tongue in some other manner than lashing it out at me….I'd rather go to sleep. I suggest you call Bill to pick you up. I can't guarantee you any protection during the day, if you stay here."

He stood up and walked towards the door, excepting her to object angrily, but she remained quiet. When he turned, she was sobbing. She was trying to hide her tears by wiping them off quickly, but they were coming down her cheeks too fast.

Seeing her teary eyes, he pressed his lips together and sighted deeply. What was he thinking to speak with her like that. He obviously spent too much time in the company of thick skin vampires like Yuki, immune to any kind of sensitivity, and forgot he was dealing with a human. He hated to see her like this and even more so to be the cause of her crying.

He returned to the sofa and wanted to comfort her somehow, but he was afraid that a simple act of touching or hugging her might provoke him into kissing or biting her – she inspired both in him right now.

She hid her crying face from him and continued sobbing.

"Soookie…." he said comfortingly.

"It's just…" she uttered with sobs. "…it's just that suddenly I am so alone. Everyone left. Tara lives far away with her girlfriend. Jason barely comes around since he got involved with Jessica and Sam is busy with his new family. And now I can't even go to my job anymore, because of that bastard Russell…and you…. you are abandoning me as well, I can feel it."

"You have Bill…" said Eric coldly. "I thought that's what you wanted."

"What do you mean I have Bill?" She looked at him reproachfully with red teary eyes. "I went to live at his place because I thought we agreed that's best for all of us. It's not like that means something more."

"Somehow I don't quite believe you Sookie…"

"Eric, when the attack happened few nights ago, as soon as Bill's guards announced some suspicious activity at the garden, even before anything was confirmed, my very first thought was you. You, not Bill."

"You surely have a strange way to show your appreciation then."

"What did you expect. I was so worried and you came drunk!"

He remained silent. She seemed to have some kind of emotional breakdown and he didn't want to aggravate the situation.

"I miss it Eric, I miss all the crazy situations the three of us were involved in. And as hard as it was, at least I felt somehow useful. Now you and Bill treat me like I'm some fragile porcelain doll, you would both prefer to lock away in a closet. Like I'm nothing more but a nuisance, getting in the way of your plans …"

"It's not like that Sookie, this time you are really in danger…"

"So I was many times before. Why should be any different now?"

"Fuck! Can't you see that if something happened to you I couldn't …"

He held her by her shoulders, gazing deeply into her eyes. Words are so useless sometimes, he thought.

"I know, but…in this way I am losing you," she said, turning her sad eyes away from his intense stare.

He let go of her shoulders. He didn't want to go down on this road again. Not now, not when the situation with Russell got so complex. He could not afford to fall again into the agony of hope. The doubt, the jealousy, the desire would eat him from inside, making him a sitting target.

"Sookie listen," he finally spoke. "Even if you wanted, you will never lose me. So that's not something your pretty head should worry about. But the current situation demands more of my time and concentration and I cannot be split in two because of you. It can be very dangerous, can you understand that? "

She nodded with tears still coming down her cheeks.

"So let's just agree we bear with this situation a little longer, until Russell is removed from our lives, permanently. After that, you will get my undivided attention and we'll see how to continue from there. Will you be able to accept that?"

"I won't sit idle through this…"

"As much as I would like to see it different, believe me, Russell will not let you sit idle. But there is no need to make things easier for him by being careless and exposing yourself."

She lowered her head. He gently passed with his hand through her soft blond hair.

"Now tell me about the dinner."

"I came here to ask when it would be suitable for you, since you are so busy…"

"Let's see….tomorrow night I can't as I need to speak with Fujiwara first, but the night after shouldn't be a problem," he said softly, trying to show some enthusiasm. He would prefer to cancel the dinner, but he knew once Sookie set her mind on something, she won't let go of it easily. He also didn't want her poking around, so he needed to appease her expectations somehow.

"Will she come?" asked Sookie carefully.

"Who? You mean Yuki?"

"Yes."

"You want her to come?"

"Yes, I would like to meet her."

"Well, it will be certainly a less awkward situation, if there is a fourth person. Sure, I'll invite her." If nothing else, Yuki will be a good distraction, he thought to himself.

"I really have to go downstairs now and you should go back to the mansion. Let me call Bill so he can send somebody to pick you up," he said and stood up.

She nodded compliantly.

He turned on his phone and saw a number of unanswered calls. Pam, Sookie, Sookie again, then Bill, Bill, Pam and Bill again.

He dialed Bill's number.

"Is she ok?" Bill's gloomy voice was heard on the other side of the line.

"She is fine. Can you send somebody over to pick her up?"

"The car is parked in the street behind Fangtasia since she arrived."

Eric walked towards the window overlooking the back street of the club and saw a black limousine with a couple of Bill's guards.

He turned away from Sookie and whispered into the phone:"Why the fuck did you allow her to leave the house?"

"She insisted," replied Bill coldly.

He knew Bill will eventually give in to Sookie's pleadings. If she was with him, that would never happen. He would rather locked her up in the dungeon, than allow her to go around freely under such dangerous circumstances.

"I'll send her down."

"Do that."

"See you at the dinner," said Eric provocatively.

Bill hanged up.

"Not in a very good mood your Billy boy," he smirked.

Emotionally exhausted, Sookie didn't bother to react to his remark.

"Bill's escort is waiting for you downstairs. Take the back exit."

She stood up obediently and put on her sweater.

"Sookie…"he called after her when she was already at the door. There was a long silence as she was waiting for his words, staring at him with those blue eyes, still red from crying. He wasn't sure why he called her. "Till the dinner then …"he said as if wanting to reassure her.

She smiled, but her sad eyes gave away her distress.

Immediately after she left, he went down to his vault. It was a strange day, and if he could choose he'd rather not see Sookie tonight. Her presence always invoked a painful reminder that she did not choose him. He began to enjoy the peace of mind, or the emptiness of it, which he felt when he was training and scheming against Russell. As if those weird but exciting adventures, he got himself into since the arrival of the Japanese, were somehow bringing back a slightly different version of his old self. In a way, he felt stronger, and he did not want to be sucked again into the vortex of desperation caused by Sookie's unsteady decisions.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Is it Sookie forever or can Eric still be surprised by somebody else? ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

Notes:

"You must understand something about Yuki. She was born and turned in 16th century, when Japan resembled one huge battlefield. It was a period of constant war, betrayal and death."

"I suppose most of the world was like that at the time..."

"There were three main rival warlords that battled to dominate Japan when she was turned. They differed greatly in their personalities as well as in their philosophies. When asked a question: "What if a bird will not sing?" they each gave a different answer:

"Kill it!"

"Make it want to sing!"

and "Wait."

Out of these three answers which one do you think was the answer of the lord Yuki served and admired so much?"

"I really have no idea. But it doesn't mean that…"

"Kill it! That was his answer…that was his life philosophy. Now, can you understand, what I had to deal with?"

* * *

><p>15.<p>

"You didn't see this one coming, did you Eric san?" said Fujiwara, grinning.

"No, I didn't," replied Eric sharply, narrowing his eyes on Fujiwara as his fangs slid out. His back was hurting from the heavy blow he just received with the wooden sword.

"Ok, we'll try it again. It's very simple. Just as you focused to detect the sound of the bells, try to detect my intention to attack you and avoid it accordingly. Keep your eyes closed, you need to perceive the intent before it manifests physically."

He emptied his mind and waited. There was nothing for a while, until he felt a sharp blow across his back. _Fuck! _He didn't feel, see or hear a thing. As he turned he saw again Fujiwara's grinning face behind him.

"Don't think, let your body guide you. Every animal has instincts to perceive the danger!"

They repeated the practice few more times, and each time Eric failed.

"You always try to control the situation. Try to adapt instead."

His back was hurting and he could swear Fujiwara hit harder each time.

"Your instincts are asleep. Wake them up! Show me the warrior you were once!"

_The warrior he no longer is_…. The modern life took its toll on his fighting abilities. He used to be a much better fighter. He lost his sharpness. Surrounded mostly by those considerably weaker than him, it was very easy to keep things under control without much effort, at least until somebody like Russell came along.

When on battlefields in the past, as a vampire or human, he could sense the danger immediately…

_Danger…_Suddenly a feeling of alertness came over him. He simply knew how to react.

His eyes still closed, he moved swiftly to the right and heard a sound of the wooden sword hitting the porch.

Fujiwara lifted the sword and nodded with satisfaction.

"Now listen to me very carefully Eric san. When you fight next time with Yuki or anyone else, you need to be alert as you were now. You have to sense their hostile intention, before they react on it. And you need to use all your other senses as well. Every small change your eyes must see, your ears hear, your skin feel, your nose smell and don't focus too much on one thing because you will miss out on the other. We say it's like looking at the mount Fuji from a distance, you see everything but you don't focus on anything."

"What you are asking is impossible. I can barely focus on one thing at the time."

"It's not good enough. From now on walk around as if you were on a battlefield at all times," said Fujiwara and was about to go inside.

"Mr. Fujiwara, I have a request."

"Oh? Yes please?"

"I have been invited to king's residence for a dinner tomorrow, so I won't be able to attend the training. But I would like to ask for your permission to invite Yuki to come with me."

"I see…well I'm not sure Yuki will agree to it unless I tell her to go."

"That's why I'm asking you. It's an informal dinner, but I thought she will probably want to have your approval for it."

"Hmmm….it's a shame to waste a training, but you certainly cannot decline king's invitation. Use what you learned today to break Yuki's defence and if you do well, I will speak with her. Now have a cup of blood and prepare for the second session," said Fujiwara and disappeared inside the house.

Eric felt the trainings intensified and the fact that Fujiwara gave him a personal lesson could only mean one thing – they were running out of time. Fujiwara was right, the world around him was changing into a battlefield and the he needed to be ready for the enemies when they come charging down.

* * *

><p>The training with Yuki was extremely hard. Eric was under additional pressure knowing Fujiwara was observing him closely to see if he implemented anything he was taught so far. He fought cautiously, without rushing to attack and took his time to observe Yuki. He allowed himself to be hit just so he could see how she moved before she struck. It was painful but slowly he learned her, perceived the little details that gave her away and began to repel her attacks.<p>

He felt the trainings and Fujiwara's lessons finally awoke in him something he had long forgotten. As if each time he engaged in these fights his old warrior spirit was revived little by little.

He was moving with easiness, and his sharpness returned. He switched to attack. He didn't rush; he put pressure on Yuki and then waited for her to respond. He sensed her determination and at the very instant she decided to attack, he struck her across her knees. She fell down and raised her sword above, to protect her head as he swung his sword down on her. His strike was heavy and almost blasted through her sword. She was retreating backwards, still on the ground, blocking his strikes. As he hit down with all his force, she let his sword slide down on hers, swiftly stood up and swung her sword from the side stopping with the blade at his neck. At exactly the same time he raised the point of his sword up against her chest.

For a moment they stared intensely at each other, then Yuki smirked and lowered her sword.

"I would be stabbed, but you would be dead. Don't forget you are fighting with vampires. Only severing the head will do. Anyway…this was interesting," she said smugly, her eyes sparkling.

Eric removed his sword as well and smiled at her.

"I'm glad I'm not boring you anymore."

Fujiwara clapped his hands and walked towards the two of them.

"Eric san, I'm satisfied with your performance today and Yuki, I believe tomorrow you have a dinner to attend."

"What! What dinner?" She was looking at Fujiwara with her mouth half open.

"Eric san will explain you," replied Fujiwara and left smiling.

Yuki turned sharply to Eric: "What is he talking about?"

"We have been invited to a dinner at the king's house. It's tomorrow at 10."

"Are you crazy? I'm not going."

"You cannot refuse an invitation from the king. Besides, I believe that sounded like an order from Fujiwara? Why wouldn't you want to go anyway, I thought you like going out…you seemed so eager to go Fangtasia last time."

"Yeah, but a dinner…..it's too personal. I prefer places where one can be more….invisible. You know, lost in the crowd… and what will I discuss about with the king anyway?"

"Don't worry, it won't be only the king, Sookie will be there as well."

"Sookie?" Yuki blinked at him. "I see…you don't want to feel like the third wheel so you have to drag me there with you?"

"No, actually it was Sookie who invited you. She wants to meet you. Anyway you have no choice."

Yuki had this miserable expression on her face as if he was forcing her to something unimaginably horrible.

"Geez, Yuki, it's just a fucking dinner, relax. I'll pick you up at 9.30."

"Ufff….no need, I know where the mansion is. I'll meet you there," she finally consented.

"Fine, just don't be late. And by the way, you should consider to dress up…something more elegant, for a change," he added just before he entered the house.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" she shouted after him.

_So far so good, _thoughtEric as he left Fujiwara's residence and headed back home.

* * *

><p>Eric found Pam between the thighs of a young woman, lying across the desk in his office. The woman uttered a small cry of surprise in between her moaning upon Eric's sudden appearance. Pam was feeding from her inner thigh and was not bothered at all by his intrusion.<p>

Eric observed the scene from the door for a while and then slowly approached, feeling his fangs sliding out.

"I see you put my office to a good use. Do you mind if I join you?" he said and without waiting for the answer bit into the other thigh.

Pam lifted her head slightly. "I'm sure Chloe will be honoured to accommodate you, right Chloe? "

Chloe answered with a loud moan, as Eric sucked the blood higher up her inner thigh.

"You want to stay for more?" asked Pam, licking off the blood from her lips.

"She is certainly well prepared," said Eric and glanced lustfully up Chloe's thigh. "But I would like to hear first what you found out regarding that Japanese warlord."

"What now?" asked Pam genuinely surprised. "I must say I'm impressed with your self control."

"Feeding will do for now," said Eric calmly.

Pam looked at him again to make sure he really meant it and then stood up with some disappointment.

"Chloe, darling, please wait for me downstairs in my bedroom. This won't take long."

Chloe stood up obediently, gave a flirtatious smile to both of them and left the office.

Pam sat on the desk and began to talk.

"Oda Nobunaga was the first of the three main unifiers of Japan in the 16th century. Compared with the other two, he was known to be the most fearless, fierce and enigmatic warlord. He was also known for his unconventional and occasionally rude behaviour and complete disregard for strict Japanese codes and ranking system. He was a brilliant strategist, using brutal but cunning methods, unusually open to the Westerns, and exploiting well modern military weaponry.

His first break through came when he led his army of 1,500 men in a charge against another much more powerful warlord with an army of 25,000 men, and defeated them. After this he went on a military campaign and blah blah blah...basically went on subduing whoever opposed him. He even waged the war against an order of armed Buddhists monks, who refused to submit to him. He burned their monastery to the ground, killing several thousand men, women and children in the process. Because of his ruthless nature he was sometimes referred to as the Demon king.

At the end he was betrayed by one of his generals who attacked him, while he was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards. He was allegedly burned in his headquarters, fighting to the very end."

"I see...an impressive character, wouldn't you say so?" said Eric thoughtfully.

"Yes," replied Pam without a trace of enthusiasm and continued to talk in the exact same tone: "Well, that's for the official human noted biography. The vampire observers provided another, more interesting one. Apparently, his nickname, the Demon king, was given to him, not only because of his ruthlessness, but also because he was known to cooperate with certain non-human forces. Guess which ones..."

Eric smirked. "A human could hardly get this powerful without a little help of our kind..."

"You are right, but there is a twist. It turns out those Buddhist monks were not as innocent as they seemed. Their temple was apparently one of the largest headquarters of vampires in Japan at that time. It is not known who was the head of it or what was their role, but it seems Nobunaga somehow got in a war with them and burned the whole vampire lair to the ground, killing every last one of them."

"That's very interesting...And do we know for sure Nobunaga really died and it is not simply...dead?"

"As far as it is known, yes. He was never turned. Killing him was part of the revenge for the temple. Just as he burned them, they burned him. So tell me now, how does Yuki fit in this story?"

"Why do you think Yuki..."

"I'm not an idiot Eric...if nothing else her name..."

He sighted. "Well, it seems this Nobunaga was her master. She still admires him greatly. She served him, she was his general or something."

"She served a human? But if he turned against the vampires, that would mean..."

"She turned against her own kind...I cannot imagine the punishment for such betrayal in those times...to serve a human was bad enough, but to kill us in his name..."

"Eric, I don't like this one little bit. I also need to warn you, Fujiwara is not just some diplomat...I did some research, he is at the highest level of JVL and nobody wants to reveal any information about him ..."

"Pam! Stay out of this, you understand! I don't want to command you but if I have to, I will."

"Fuck Eric, we are supposed to be a team you and me!" objected Pam, taken aback from the decisiveness in his voice.

"Not this time. Fujiwara is too powerful and I don't want anyone else but myself involved. I couldn't protect you if things turned ugly. So do not interfere!"

Pam crossed her arms and resentfully looked away. "You can be such a stubborn idiot sometimes!"

Eric noticed a drop of blood in the corner of her eye, before she quickly wiped it away. He came closer and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm having everything under control, Pam. Trust me..."

She smiled bitterly.

"This shit will cost you dearly, Eric. You know when I'm upset I go shopping."

He gently caressed her cheek. "I was counting on that."

She walked towards the door. "You sure you don't want to join us downstairs? It could be very interesting."

He shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll be having my share of "interesting" tomorrow night at king Bill's house. I've been invited to a dinner."

"Oh, did the blondie whistle and you go running again?

"Watch your mouth, Pam. Besides, I'm taking Yuki with me."

"I feel sorry for the poor thing already... to sit through the dinner with those two..."

"Chloe is waiting for you Pam..."

Pam sighted, gave him one of her typical "what the fuck" looks and left.

* * *

><p>Eric was sitting behind a neatly prepared dining table, leisurely resting his head on his hand and observing the environment around him with an obvious expression of boredom. His other hand was toying with the wine glass, and from time to time he glanced at Sookie and Bill sitting at the same table.<p>

"Should we wait some more or shall I order to bring out the dishes?" asked Sookie after they passed a considerable time in silence.

"Japanese are very much into manners, I think it's better we wait," replied Bill.

"Since when you became an expert on Japanese matters, Bill..."commented Eric sarcastically. "I wouldn't worry about Yuki. I'm quite sure she couldn't care less whether we start with or without her."

As he finished his words he sensed a pleasant, familiar smell._ Cherry blossom._

Before his sensory perception translated into words, the door to the dining room opened and it seemed as if Yuki teleported from another dimension right in front of their table. Standing before them in a purple karo mini skirt, ankle high boots and black thigh high stockings of an unusual pattern, she gave the impression her teleport device messed up the coordinates and that the king's mansion was not the originally intended location. Her hair was tied high up in a pony tail and she was looking smugly from one person to another.

Sookie and Bill remained speechless at this so sudden and colourful visit while Eric buried his face into his arms and sighted heavily upon seeing her outfit.

Yuki's green eyes outlined in black, vivaciously gleamed from behind her loose hair, and stared right back into Sookie's and Bill's bewildered eyes.

Just as they recovered from their first impression, and Bill was about to address her, a security alert began to beep and four armed guards burst into the dining room, two of them pointing their sniper guns at Yuki and the others searching the room.

"I apologize your majesty, but there has been a security bridge. One of our guards near the wall was found unconscious. We are searching for the intruder everywhere," said the guard.

Bill stood up immediately, Sookie tensed up, while Eric laid back on his chair, crossed his hands and directed his stare to Yuki.

Yuki scratched her head and her face suddenly collapsed in a big grin as she timidly raised her arm.

"I'm afraid that would be me. I just wanted to see how good the security is around here."

All the four guards now took a step closer to Yuki and pointed their guns at her.

Eric's lips curled up in a smile as he waited for reaction from Bill, who was visibly puzzled.

"It's okay, stand back and return to your places. Everything is under control," Bill reassured the guards.

After exchanging few distrustful looks, the guards slowly lowered their weapons and left the room.

Eric stretched out his hand towards Yuki. "May I present you my lovely training partner Miss Yuki Nobunaga. Yuki, this is King Bill and Sookie."

Yuki bowed deeply towards Bill: "I'm honoured your majesty."

She greeted Sookie in the same way but with a slightly lesser bow: "Very nice meeting you."

"Very nice meeting you too," replied Sookie, still eying Yuki as if she was an exotic animal.

Bill finally composed himself and offered his hand:"Miss Yuki, the honour is all mine."

"Your majesty is most kind to invite me to his mansion," responded Yuki softly.

"It's my pleasure and please, call me Bill," he said and pulled out the chair for her to sit.

Yuki, visibly impressed by Bill's gallant behaviour sat down, opposite of Sookie.

"You are late!" said Eric bluntly.

Before Yuki could answer, Bill turned to her and said politely: "It doesn't matter, we are in no rush, don't worry about it."

Yuki smiled in gratitude and returned a complacent look to Eric.

Bill gave a sign to his staff, and a variety of human and vampire dishes were soon served on the table.

As the dishes were coming out, Yuki stared uncomfortably at them.

"Why don't you start with the soup, Yuki," said Eric, noticing her timidness and placed one of the plates in front of her. "Bill, I must thank you for going to such great lengths to prepare a fancy dinner like this just for me."

"It was actually Sookie's idea to order catering from Crimson Willow, and it was rather for Miss Yuki, than for you," replied Bill dryly.

Yuki looked at her bloody soup and smiled: "Oh, thank you very much, it looks really delicious."

"Eric said that you are very sensitive regarding the food so I thought with Crimson Willow, the best vampire restaurant in town, one cannot go wrong," said Sookie, waiting for Yuki to start on her soup.

"Eric said that about me? I wonder what else he's been saying," replied Yuki and grinned with embarrassment.

"Not very much to tell you the truth. Apart from the fact that you two are training partners and that you are very pretty."

Eric gave a cold glare to Sookie, but she ignored him.

"He said I was pretty?" asked Yuki with a smirk, turning her eyes to Eric.

"When I was drunk," replied Eric defensively, feeling targeted by both women at the table.

"They say, in vino veritas," quickly remarked Bill, enjoying Eric's growing discomfort.

As always with Yuki around, Eric felt things had a tendency to quickly spin out of his control, and it looked like this dinner was not going to be an exception. He began to sip his soup without replying to the provocations.

Sookie continued to question Yuki: "So tell us, how is our Eric doing at the trainings so far?"

"He's getting better…excellent soup by the way!"

Her modest response was met by Eric's reproachful look.

"How did you all get into this mess with Russell Edgington in the first place?" asked Yuki slurping her soup quite loudly.

Sookie's and Bill's eyes automatically turned to Eric.

"Eric killed Russell's lover, after which Russell went berserk," answered Bill.

Yuki glanced at Eric and laughed. "I should have known…"

"Known what?" asked Eric immediately.

"You rush into actions without thinking about the consequences…"

"Miss Yuki, I could not agree more…" nodded Bill approvingly to Yuki's comment.

"For you information, I'm quite sure Russell went berserk long before that, and the only mistake I did was not killing him when I got the chance."

"It's true, it was not entirely Eric's fault. Russell is a crazy mother fucker, who deserves to die," Sookie supported Eric.

Yuki shifted her eyes between Sookie and Eric a couple of times, smiling naughtily and then turned to Bill. "So your majesty….Bill, I heard you fought in the Civil war."

"Yes, I served as First Lieutenant in the 28th Louisiana Infantry."

"What was that like? " asked Yuki, her eyes widening with interest.

"I'm not sure how much you know about our Civil war, but I'll be glad to tell you about my experience. You see the principal combat unit was infantry…."

Sookie was only half listening to Bill's speech on civil war and she was discreetly keeping an eye on Yuki. She wasn't quite sure about what to think of her. From the meeting with Fujiwara, she expected a few worded, rather scary looking vampire with much more serious, professional image. Instead, Yuki was pretty much the opposite of all that. She looked very girlie, kinda cute in that weird outfit, with quite adequate sociable skills, and she was handling very well the considerable attention she got from both men at the table.

"I think even in a life cycle of a caged hamster there are more unpredictable events than you had in your human life Bill," Eric suddenly interrupted. He was fed up with the boring conversation that was going on between Bill and Yuki.

Bill stopped talking and his face darkened as he glared at Eric.

"Never mind him. He has no insight or appreciation for the art of warfare," said Yuki dismissively.

"Now Yuki, why would you say that. With all those books on Vikings you borrowed, you surely read about their bravery, conquests and numerous successful expeditions throughout the world," said Eric.

"Yes, you are right. The Vikings were all that, but somehow I just don't see you fitting in there. I wonder if your loyalty was to their warriors' cause or to something else….women and drinking perhaps?"

Bill smirked at the harsh words. "I believe Eric's concept of loyalty has some twisted aspect to it."

"Ok Yuki, you want to hear about my loyalty? I'll tell you. I was a Viking prince. My father was the king of our tribe. Russell killed him and my entire family for amusement. Since then the battles I fought were always with the purpose to find Russell and to take my revenge. I was loyal to my father as well as to my maker for a millennium, and I will continue to be loyal to them till the very end. I don't know about your human life, but I do know you and Billy boy here share a rather infamous trait. You both killed your own maker. One of you did it to have a free way with his human lover and you Yuki, you are nothing else but a paid mercenary without any conscience and I wouldn't be surprised if you killed your maker just for a better pay check. Funny, how you two dare to preach loyalty to me?" said Eric and smirked condescendingly.

"ERIC!" exclaimed Sookie.

Yuki suddenly detached from her chair and stopped an inch from Eric's face with her fangs out.

"Are you questioning my loyalty?"she hissed.

Eric immediately released his fangs as well and confronted her with threatening glare.

"Eric retreat!" ordered Bill. "Miss Yuki, please, it's not worthy."

They both had sparkles in their eyes and the tension between then filled up the room.

It was Yuki who retreated her fangs first, and sat back on her chair. "Apologies, your majesty," she said calmly.

Sookie was looking at her with a puzzled expression. She just witnessed a sudden transformation from a sweet girl into a deadly menace. _What the hell is going on between her and Eric?_

"In Bill's defence…there are makers….and there are makers like Lorena. I would kill that bitch again if necessary, without any regrets," said Sookie decisively.

Bill placed his hand on hers and his eyes beamed with gratefulness. "Thank you, it means a lot to me."

Yuki watched them both and then addressed Sookie:"It's amazing how well you keep balancing the expectations of both of them."

"Excuse me!" Her directness left Sookie with her mouth half open.

"It requires skill, but must be emotionally exhausting," continued Yuki, while starting on her bloody dessert.

"I'm sorry but I don't see how is that any of your business. But since we are getting this personal, what is your story Yuki? You don't seem to be such an easy going vampire. I wonder what was it that set you off to kill your maker?" asked Sookie in a provocative tone.

Yuki's eyes narrowed on her, as if she was trying to assess her. Then she put down the spoon and began to talk: "My maker was a low life who didn't even deserve to be killed. He murdered not just my family but the entire village of our clan and he made me into a vampire to serve him in various ways. But, he made a mistake. He underestimated me because I was a woman, so I waited till he taught me the ABC of being a vampire and then I killed him and his companions at the first opportunity. I also killed the one who hired him to do the dirty job. It was the same person, a local warlord, who hired my father to do a task for him. When because of somebody else's treason the task failed, my father offered his life in exchange for the lives of our clan members. The warlord promised he will not harm us and my father gladly committed seppuko, a ritual suicide. Immediately after, he sent his band of vampires to massacre us. I killed him, his children and all the other family members down to their dog and canary birds. I wiped out his clan, just as he did mine. And as you said, Sookie, I would gladly do it again if presented with the opportunity. That's regarding my maker. I put my loyalty to the ones worthy of it, whether that is your maker or not is irrelevant. I surely would not submit to somebody just because of some filial ties. To be loyal you need to respect that person. At least that's the way I play it." Yuki shrugged causally and returned to her dessert as if she just told them a funny story from her childhood.

Everyone was quiet.

After a while Bill raised his glass."I drink to that…" he said and took a sip.

As Sookie and Eric remained thoughtful, Bill turned to Yuki again and they resumed their debate on Civil War.

Eric glanced at Yuki from time to time, trying to observe her without her noticing. He felt somehow closer to her. It's not like he hadn't heard similar stories before, but it was something in the way she told the story, in her attitude towards her past… he could connect to that. There was no pity, no regrets, just brutal honesty. He remembered also what Pam told him about the lord she served. _What else did you get yourself into, Yuki?_

Her interaction with Bill was slowly getting on his nerves. He was aware of Yuki's morbid interest in the history of warfare but he was quite sure that the talk with Bill was as much boring for her as it was for him. He knew Yuki too well by now to see through her overly interested behaviour and he found her too smart to fall for Bill's stories. The Yuki he knew would simply give some dismissive, rude comment about how boring, uneventful and inexpressive the fighting in rifle formation was. And as for Bill, Yuki was certainly not his type. It took considerable time even for him to learn to tolerate her and he considered himself much more open minded than Bill. Yet Bill was giving her all his attention and obviously trying to impress her.

Suddenly he felt Sookie's hand on his. "I never expected her to be like that…"

"Like what?"

"She is of such contradictory nature. She seemed so polite but she has a very sharp if not insolent tongue, and look how she took over Bill, that's ill mannered, you just don't do that in a company of other people. She seems so gentle and harmless, but then she speaks of killing like it's her favourite chore of the day. And when she came at you, she was frightening as hell, yet afterwards she smiled at me as an innocent child. But you know what I really think… I think she is interested in Bill because of his position. I don't know if by order or because she sees an opportunity for herself…And what's up with that weird style of hers…who dresses like that, anyway…"

"I suppose the modern Japanese…. " Eric shrugged and smiled. "Sookie, you are just being jealous because she is getting all the attention from your dear king. But you don't have to trash only her. You think your precious Bill has no will on his own? I do admit though, she is not her usual self."

"I see she charmed you as well. If I was you, I would be careful. I usually don't trash talk people or vampires with no good reason, you know that Eric, but my female intuition tells me there is darkness in her and I'd stay away….."

"Yes, there is, isn't it...darkness in her," mused Eric, returning his gaze on Yuki.

Suddenly Bill and Yuki stood up from their chairs.

"I will take Yuki downstairs. I want to show her my collection of the memorabilia from the Civil war," said Bill.

The change of expression on Eric's face was a clear sign to Yuki that he disapproved of this. She smiled back to him, pretending she didn't notice.

Sookie looked at Bill angrily and asked: "What now? In the middle of the dinner?"

"We'll be right back, just want show Yuki the best pieces of my collection," answered Bill.

"Fine, me and Eric will be out on the balcony, having some more wine…and blood," said Sookie giving Bill a daring stare.

"Fine…" replied Bill coldly and accompanied Yuki out of the room.

As Yuki and Bill left the dining room, Eric stood up abruptly and strode to the balcony. He felt upset and didn't even know why.

Sookie came after him, bringing two glasses of blood and wine. "Never mind them, I think Bill is just trying to be provocative that's all. But at least we have some time alone." She passed him the glass.

"Sure…" He was not in the mood for small talk, not even with Sookie.

Sookie tucked her hand under his elbow and leaned closer to him. "The night is beautiful, isn't it….a bit cold, but the sky is so clear. It feels strange, you and me looking at the stars from the balcony of Bill's mansion…"

"Mhmm…" he responded, his mind being elsewhere.

* * *

><p>"Nice!" said Yuki enthusiastically, aiming with an antique rifle at the wall of a basement room.<p>

"It's a Colt model…"

She handed the rifle to Bill and he placed it back in the display case.

"And these are the swords you used…"she asked as she walked around, admiring the rest of the collection.

"Yes, this one is an officer's sword…however, it was the rifles that really did the job…"

"The first real modern war, hmm?" said Yuki looking at a number of revolvers.

"So they say…" replied Bill.

He was standing behind Yuki, leering at her long neck. When she turned their eyes met and in the next instant Bill was pushing her against the wall. His fangs were fully out.

Yuki smirked and her fangs came out as well. He began kissing her aggressively on her neck. His hands were sliding under her t-shirt. He kissed her on her mouth and then down her neck again.

"It feels so good to finally have something of Eric's…"he whispered while kissing her.

"Wait, wait…what!" Yuki pushed him away. "What did you just say?"

Bill stopped for the moment and looked at her in disbelief. "Don't tell me you two haven't…No? I'm surprised. I mean it's pretty obvious he considers you his so I thought…" He continued to kiss her.

Yuki pushed him back again. "How the fuck is that obvious?"

"Never mind that now…" His hands were on her breasts.

"Tell me…" she insisted.

He talked as he was undoing her bra. "There are certain signs… it's the way he looks at you, watches over you in that territorial way of his… "

Yuki frowned. "He does?"

"Surely you must have noticed….. Why, does it upset you he thinks of you as his?"

Yuki lowered her head and began to laugh quietly.

"You are full of shit, your Majesty. But silly me to think you wanted to have sex with me…while actually you just want to fuck Eric."

"You think wrong Miss Yuki, I do want to have sex with you, regardless," said Bill, giving Yuki a lustful look from head to toe.

"Of course, and let's not forget you also get to make Sookie jealous…"

"An additional bonus." He began pulling up her skirt.

"You are wrong…"

"What…"murmured Bill overtaken by lust.

"About Eric and me…he hates my guts. And I don't like him much either. He bears with me only for one reason. He is in love with Sookie, completely, just like you are…"

Bill stopped and while still leaning on Yuki he spoke in spiteful manner: "Eric is incapable of love. He just finds Sookie interesting. For him she is like a new toy to play with. And it amuses him even more so because she is mine…it's a challenge for him and he gets easily bored."

"That a bit self centred. You really believe he is so much into her just because she is yours? Pardon me, but I doubt Eric thinks so highly of you…and after all he is willing to go against somebody like Edgington just to save her… "

"Edgington is as much after Sookie as he is after him. Believe me, Eric would never sacrifice himself for anything or anybody unless it benefits him somehow. He does not love Sookie, it's a current obsession, and her rejection was a blow to his ego." He started to pull down her panties.

"Stop it!"

He continued. He felt an immense desire, the thrill, something new, something to conquer…he could not stop.

Suddenly he found his face pressed against the cold wall, and his left hand twisted behind his back.

"I know you are the king but we are not in the dark ages anymore when the king could claim his vassals' women. NOT that I am one of your vassal's women," she said with a very calm voice and twisted his hand more.

"Argghhh….shit! Ok, ok."

She released him.

"I thought it's what you wanted. When we spoke at the table…"

"I did….. But the three of you are having some deep shit drama going on and that's a turn off for me. I just wanted some sex, without getting in the middle of something so complicated."

"You sure that's all? There was no alternative agenda from your side as well?"

"What could I possibly gain from it?"

"I don't know…a close relationship with the king? Or perhaps you also enjoy making others jealous?"

"I don't need any of this. But, contrary to what may seem, I do have this little pride left. I won't be a substitute for somebody else."

"But you wouldn't be…" persisted Bill.

"Give it up Bill, but I tell you what…for the fun of it, invite me to sleep here…this should cause the effect you wanted…."

"Mmmm, your devious mind makes you even more attractive…perhaps we could continue with this on another occasion?"

"Perhaps. Let's return now and play the game."

* * *

><p>Eric was still on the balcony with Sookie clinging to his arm. He was sipping the blood and half listening to her chatting. Quite some time passed since Yuki disappeared with Bill. Her behaviour was puzzling him.<p>

When he heard them returning, he immediately turned. Sookie was still holding him by his arm and a disproving look from Bill, who entered first, did not escape him, but he was more eager to make eye contact with Yuki. She came walking leisurely behind Bill, with a witty smile on her face. Her head was slightly down, her eyes hidden by her hair and she was not responsive to his inquiring stare.

"We were afraid you bored yourself to death and never to return again, "said Eric annoyingly.

"Oh, I assure you it was quite interesting," replied Yuki sleekly and smirked.

"It was a pleasure to show my collection to someone who knows to appreciate it truly," added Bill and looked provocatively toward Eric.

"You never offered me to see your collection, Bill," said Sookie in an offended tone.

"Sookie dear, I never thought you would be interested, but if you wish…"

"I'm not some old vampire warrior, but I'm quite sure I know more of our history than somebody from Japan," she remarked, glancing jealously at Yuki.

"Indeed your majesty, you should share your unique collection with your dearest," said Yuki in slightly patronizing manner.

Her words created an uncomfortable moment between the three of them.

"Well…as always it's been a pleasure, but I'm afraid is time for us to go…come Yuki," said Eric, passing her on the way to the door.

"Actually Eric, I invited Miss Yuki to spend the night here. She will give me some tips on how to improve my security. Besides it's already late and we have plenty of free rooms."

Eric turned abruptly. "You what?"

Sookie's eyes widened from surprise.

Yuki nodded indifferently. "Yes, and I accepted, I never slept in king's mansion." She grinned.

"But Bill…" Sookie wanted to object but couldn't find a proper reason.

"Very thoughtful of you Bill, but it's absolutely out of the question…she is returning with me."

"Excuse me…" exclaimed Yuki at Eric's commanding voice.

Eric ignored her and continued: "She is my responsibility. Her master will be furious if I don't deliver her back to the residence. …"

"Am I package or something..?" interjected Yuki, but Eric seemed to be concerned only with Bill.

"I think the lady is old enough to decide on her own…"

"Yes she is…" said Yuki, but it was like she was not present in the room.

"I said, she is my responsibility I am not leaving her here…she came with me and she will leave with me," said Eric in a threatening tone.

"Actually I came alone..."

"Do you have any doubts about her safety in the house of the king?" asked Bill, smiling deviously, which only provoked Eric further.

Eric moved closer to Bill: "You fool, do you really want another vampire in the house, near Sookie?" He lied, he knew Yuki would never harm Sookie due to his pact with Fujiwara.

Bill flinched for a second.

"Ok, that's enough. Now it's becoming insulting." Yuki stepped between them. "I will be honoured to stay here your majesty and I can guarantee you that I would never abuse your hospitality in any way. In fact, if something happened, I would gladly jump to your assistance," said Yuki with a serious and calm voice.

Eric rolled his eyes and sighted. "Yuki….do you really plan to go through with this charade?" His voice was filled with anger, but his eyes were pleading her to change her mind.

"That's enough Sheriff!"

Eric ignored Bill's order and was stubbornly waiting for her response.

"I have no idea why the fuck are YOU so upset about it…" she said and smirked. "...but I'm staying here!"

His eyes turned icy blue. He hated her at that moment.

"Sookie, see you soon!" he said coldly and disappeared.

"Eric!" Sookie shouted after him, but he was already gone. "What the fuck is the matter with you vampires. You all have an ego of a size of this mansion. And I mean a mansion for each one of you. Not once we can part in good spirits!" She was clearly upset and her accusing eyes were directed as much at Bill as to Yuki.

"Sookie…let me escort you to your room," said Bill and took her by the hand.

"Don't fucking bother!" Sookie shook off his hand and stormed out of the room.

Yuki was standing in the middle of the dining room, her hands crossed behind her back. She was marvelling at the whole situation. "Perhaps would have been better if we just had sex…"

Bill seemed concerned. "Do you still have doubts about Eric's possessiveness? He won't forgive me this one so soon."

"He surely has some control issues. But don't worry, by tomorrow he will forget it all. Nevertheless, this was quite fun...So, my king, which room can I sleep in?" asked Yuki, clearly amused by what happened.

"How about mine?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Ok, I understand, please follow me."

As they stopped on front of one of the rooms, Bill turned to Yuki and almost in a whisper said to her: "I think we played this so well it would be a shame not to explore further the possibilities of our cooperation. As a king I have many things to offer…"

"And in return?" she asked quickly.

"Well, you are working closely with Eric. I wouldn't mind to know what he is up to… you know…to be updated on his intentions from time to time. I don't want to get some nasty surprises from him and I want to make sure that he does not involve Sookie in his plans."

She leaned closer to him and he could see her green eyes sparkling as she spoke in a hushed voice. "Bill, you are more intelligent than I thought. You recognize opportunities quickly and you don't hesitate to exploit them, even when they are of somehow questionable nature. Admirable…" Her eyes kept probing him and she continued in a more threatening voice: "But please do not make a mistake. I have no sympathy for your pathetic little games, in fact I think it's rather shameful for vampires like you to let his emotions be enslaved by some superficial love relationship with a human. My loyalty is to Fujiwara, which for now means also to Eric. We respect certain codes of behaviour which the decadent West has long forgotten. So let me make this clear. While all this childish fooling around was fun and made the evening more eventful, I would never betray or harm my training partner or allow anyone else to do it."

He felt her power, and took a step back. "I understand your position Yuki. It's a noble one. I do hope you know though, you should have no such expectations from Eric. And let me give you another advice…" His voice now took a threatening tone as well. "Do not try to diminish my love for Sookie, you have no idea what I am willing to do for her."

She looked at him calmly. "If you say so... and don't worry I don't have any expectations from anyone."

He opened the door of the room. "I hope the room will be to your liking. You are a strange character Yuki."

"I think the three of you are strange…"

"An early breakfast tomorrow, before you leave?"

"No need, thanks. I'll be out of here as soon as I awaken."

"I'll notify the guards then."

"Don't bother, they won't notice. Thank you for the hospitality your majesty…"she bowed, winked at him and closed the door.

* * *

><p>Masaki took a long sip and placed the cup on the table. The bitter blood was just what his weakened body needed.<p>

Fujiwara was observing him quietly from the other side of the table. He was obviously waiting for him to speak first.

"I went to check out the information personally. It is confirmed. They set up a camp at the woods of ****," said Masaki, his eyes respectfully turned downwards.

"Any news of him?"

"No, so far only his subjects. Shall we prepare for the attack?"

Fujiwara leaned his chin on his hand and contemplated for a while. "No, not yet. Let's observe them some more. If there are no changes, I'll send Yuki."

"Hai, Sensei."

"Masaki san, tomorrow I'll need you. Remain in the residence after you awake."

Masaki nodded obediently and swiftly left the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Apologies for the delay! Busy times, busy times...;) <strong>_


	13. Chapter 13

16.

Eric was sitting on the wooden porch, waiting for the training to commence. He glanced towards Fujiwara, who already positioned himself comfortably on the small podium. His training partner was still missing.

"Eric san how was the dinner last night? Did Yuki behave well?" asked Fujiwara from the podium.

"Well, she certainly impressed the king. Didn't she tell you anything about it?"

Fujiwara made a thoughtful face. "Actually, I haven't seen her since she left for the dinner last night…"

Eric's face grew gloomier.

"Rather careless of her to be so late for training…" he remarked loudly, even though he knew that Fujiwara could hear him perfectly if he spoke at a normal volume.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Yuki won't be joining us in the first session…I gave her some time off…"

Eric raised his eyebrows. "So who are we waiting for then?"

Fujiwara grinned. "For him!"

In that moment Eric felt somebody was arriving down the hall and just as he turned towards the house, Masaki appeared at the door. He bowed towards Fujiwara who gave him a small nod in return. Then he took Yuki's bokuto from the corner, jumped from the porch and cut few times with it through the air.

Eric remained sitting and warily observed Masaki from the porch. He certainly wasn't expecting this ninja or samurai or whatever this condescending bastard was, to be his sparring partner. On the top of it, the fact that Yuki didn't even bother to show up, was making him even more irritable.

"Eric san, we can begin now. Masaki san kindly agreed to help us with the training. He will be your opponent for tonight," announced Fujiwara with his devilishly benevolent voice.

Eric took his bokuto and jumped from the porch.

"That's most kind of Mr. Masaki," replied Eric and turned his stare to Masaki. _You surely couldn't have picked a better day to play with me,_ he thought as he positioned himself in front of him.

A self confident expression appeared on Masaki's face as he raised the tip of his bokuto towards Eric. The gesture was slightly patronizing and it looked like he was not taking this challenge too seriously. Such attitude fuelled Eric's eagerness to cut him down even more.

"Everyone ready then? Great, let's start! HAJIME!"

They clashed into each other at the same time. When they separated they both had blood on their faces. Eric from nose, Masaki from his lower lip.

Masaki's face reflected surprise, while Eric had a devious smile on his lips, breathing heavily from the excitement.

"What? It didn't go according to your expectations?" said Eric and smirked.

Instead of responding Masaki smashed into him full force. They both fell down and started wrestling on the ground. Eric being much taller than his opponent managed to overpower him, and once on the top, he let go of his sword and began to punch Masaki all over his face. Masaki managed to free himself, jumped behind Eric's back and trapped him with the sword on his neck. He pressed tightly.

"Dead!" he whispered on his ear.

Eric's fist immediately connected with his opponent's groin and as Masaki stumbled backwards in pain, Eric turned and gave him a powerful head kick, which sent Masaki flying few meters away. Then he picked up his sword and waited for his opponent to recover.

Soon they clashed again. With an elegant technique Masaki managed to snatch the sword from Eric's hands and Eric, now empty handed, jumped towards Masaki, before he could reach him with his sword. He caught him by his waist with both hands and brought him down on the ground. Once on the ground he swiftly took the sword from Masaki's hand and threw it away. Both without the swords, they began to roll on the ground, wrestling and exchanging punches.

"Yame, YAME…STOP IT BOYS!" shouted Fujiwara who was now standing beside them.

Eric and Masaki stopped and stood up but they continued to look furiously at each other.

"Is it just me or do I sense some hostility between the two of you, hmmm?" grinned Fujiwara, but his remark was not taken in humorously.

"You see Eric san, while I do admire your enthusiastic approach against Masaki san, what you did now was nothing more than a pub brawl and every experienced fighter with a sword would kill you easily. In fact, Masaki san had more than one opportunity to do so in this fight. Sword fighting demands much more self discipline, and while is good to use the energy that is fueled by your emotions, you still need to control this energy and use it at the right moment. To make my point clear, we shall do things a bit differently now."

As he finished his sentence, Fujiwara disappeared inside the house and reappeared in front of them almost instantaneously with two Japanese swords in his hands.

Respectfully bowing to each sword, he handed one over to Masaki and the other one to Eric.

"Now let's really fight!" he grinned and retreated to his podium.

Eric's eyes were shining as he took off the scabbard and gazed upon the sword. It was a fine Japanese sword with nicely-tempered blade. The quality or the beauty of it didn't match the sword with the blue glow he found in Yuki's room, nevertheless he was quite excited about this unexpected change of weapons. He cut few times through the air and with some distance from Masaki assumed his position.

The smirk was now back on Masaki's face. It looked as if fighting with real swords boosted him with confidence. Indeed, Eric had to admit that holding the real sword made him feel quite differently. He could not remember when was the last time he fought with this weapon. Suddenly, he was not in such a hurry anymore to strike down Masaki and he became more cautious and focused. He was not afraid, but he knew that a mistake would cost him dearly and he didn't want to get impaled on Masaki's sword already in the first move.

Fujiwara said something to Masaki in Japanese, upon which he obediently nodded and replied with "Hai."

Then Fujiwara turned to Eric: "Eric san, please keep in mind that this is a sparring practice, which should not end in killing your partner. Never lose your control."

Eric nodded compliantly, but the truth was that he felt blood thirsty and set out to at least substantially hurt Masaki.

"Hajime!"

Neither of them rushed toward the other this time. They both moved with small carefully placed steps. They made almost one full circle keeping quite a few meters of distance between them, when Masaki suddenly changed the position of his sword and attacked. Eric parried but Masaki surprised him with the next strike. The cold blade felt like a touch of summer breeze, immediately followed by a pain that ripped across his chest. He fell on his knees. His shirt was torn across his upper torso and the blood stain nicely marked the diagonal cut of Masaki's sword. The cut was painful but not deep and it began to heal fast. Masaki spared him.

_What the fuck am I doing! Nothing changed, it's the same as before, _Eric was telling to himself, but he knew that deep inside, on some subconscious level, he was trying to avoid the pain.

He turned the point of his sword downwards and slowly moved towards Masaki. He focused and cleared his mind of all his doubts.

_Fuck the pain! _He charged without any hesitation.

Although it all happened in a split of a second, the world around him suddenly appeared to be in a slow motion. He noticed every detail. Masaki's shoulders going up a little, his hands squeezing the tilt of the sword, his eyes narrowing slightly. He even heard Fujiwara moving on his podium. And then he felt Masaki's intent.

_It will happen now, he is going to strike now._

In that same moment, just before Masaki's decision translated into the movement of his body, Eric took the opportunity and cut through Masaki's abdomen. This time it was Masaki who fell on his knees.

When Eric came out of his frenzy, he realized he cut in quite deeply. Masaki did not get up so Eric came closer to check on him and saw him pressing with one hand on his stomach. There was a lot of blood, and some of the intestines were visible, but the wound was already healing.

Eric knew Masaki must be in some real pain and although it should have made him happy, he was left with a rather bitter feeling. His deep cut was showing only his lack of control.

He offered him a hand, but Masaki just glared at him and stood up on his own. They went back to their positions to start again.

"Eric san, when your mind is not clouded by your stubborn ego, you can be a superior fighter. The timing and the precision of your attack was brilliant. The problem is that usually your focus is everywhere else but in the place it supposed to be, and this brilliancy does not shine through too often. Anyway, try to be a bit more careful with your cuts next time," said Fujiwara and grinned.

Eric nodded. He was already used to Fujiwara's double edged comments, in which the compliments always came with scolding.

The training continued in a rather balanced and respectful manner. Eric felt very comfortable with his skill and didn't feel threaten from Masaki at all. In fact, he wished Yuki was back so he could have a real sword fight with her.

"I see you finally received some proper toys to play with…"

_Yuki!_ He instinctively looked towards the porch and saw her smiling, just before he felt the blade of Masaki's sword cutting across his chest from shoulder to the hip bone. He fell to the ground face-first.

He heard Yuki shouting something to Masaki in Japanese and then their laugh.

In the next instant she was right by his side, looking at him grinning.

"Hmmm, this must hurt."

Eric pursed his lips tightly, unable to disguise the pain.

"It's pure joy. Too bad you chickened out today," he managed to utter.

Yuki frowned at him and made a face.

"To chicken out? On what exactly…on a fight with you?" she asked mockingly. "Fujiwara told me to come later today…"

"Wasn't that convenient for you…" remarked Eric as he stood up slowly. His clothes were torn and bloody in many places.

"What are you insinuating?" she asked, staring at him firmly.

"Nothing. I'm in the middle of something here if you don't mind…"

"Ah Yuki, you are here! Please go get your sword. You will join us soon. You boys continue!" said Fujiwara.

Yuki bowed, rushed inside the house and returned with her sword just as they began to fight again. She sat on the porch, observing them casually.

They clinched with their swords and Masaki put some real pressure on Eric this time, but Eric defended stubbornly from his attacks and Masaki was getting frustrated.

With Yuki watching, Eric was additionally motivated to win or at least not to lose. He certainly didn't want to give her another reason to mock him, and he knew she will trash talk about how he lost this fight for ages, if he let Masaki win.

He continued to block Masaki's strikes one after the other effortlessly, allowing him to strike quite a few and when Masaki finally stroke with all his might, Eric let Masaki's blade to slide down on his, then turned the blade around and swung it right at his opponent's neck. At the same time he felt Yuki by his side and when the adrenalin settled down he noticed her hand on his.

_What the fuck?_

"That was close, I was afraid you would not be able to stop yourself," she said and removed her hand.

"How did you…"

"How did I know? It's one of my favorite techniques. And I see you learn fast. Besides, you were so obvious in your intention…" said Yuki smugly and giggled.

"It wasn't so obvious for him," replied Eric provocatively and glanced over to Masaki's upset face.

"Excellent!" Fujiwara shouted and appeared near them. "Now let's make it even more challenging. Yuki, you and Masaki will fight together against Eric san." Then he turned to Eric and placed his hand on his shoulder: "I know you are already weakened, Eric san, but you must realize than when will you come up against Mr Edgington or his soldiers it will be probably ten times worse. So please, focus and try to implement what you learned. I have faith in you…" said Fujiwara reassuringly and strode back to the stage with his hands behind his back.

Eric was standing few meters from Yuki and Masaki. Masaki seemed to be pleased with his new task, while Yuki looked her usual indifferent self. He sighed deeply, focused and tried to gather all his strength. He knew that he almost had no chance.

They began. Masaki and Yuki took off to different directions. He followed Masaki, he was the weaker one of the two, so he was planning to take him out first. He went after him and in few strikes he managed to put him on defense. Suddenly he felt her behind him. He turned and cut at the same time. He knew exactly where Yuki was. She avoided his strike and swung her sword at him. He parried, but at the same time he felt his flesh spreading apart on his back. It was Masaki.

Eric staggered backwards and dropped his guard. Yuki and Masaki waited considerately for him to heal. It gave him some time to think. This approach did not work; he will have to try it differently. _Yuki first then._

He healed and they prepared for the next attack. This time, before the two of them moved, Eric charged towards Yuki. While she managed to block his strike, the clash was so strong she fell on the ground. He was about to stab her, when his sword was blocked by Masaki. Yuki immediately jumped on her feet, and while his sword was still entangled with Masaki's she cut across his abdomen. They again had to stop and wait for him to heal.

"Eric san, you need to see the bigger picture. When you have multiple attackers you shouldn't focus only on one. They are two and you cannot handle them. What if they were ten? Use some strategy, find their weak spot," Fujiwara preached from his podium.

_Yeah, yeah, you are surely good in stating the obvious_, thought Eric already frustrated enough.

When they started again, he kept on the place and watched them both. He decided again to go toward Masaki first, but he kept Yuki in check. He managed to give Masaki a rather deep cut, which put him monetarily on his knees, just before Yuki reached him. Yuki's technique was extremely good and her sword was so elusive, that no matter what Eric did, the point of her sword was always near his neck.

After he failed again to deflect her sword, she slightly cut at his shoulder and poked him with the sword just to make a point that she controls him. She smirked.

This gesture angered him profoundly. Perhaps it was her rebellious, condescending glow in her eyes, the same one she had when she chose to stay with Bill last night, or maybe it was because again she put him in a position in which he felt without any control. Either way, he had enough of it and he decided to take things in his hand. Literally.

He grabbed the point of her sword with this hand. The blade cut into his flesh but he wouldn't let go. Her sword was her only defense, preventing him from getting closer. And he wanted to get closer.

Surprise replaced her confident look but her hands were still holding the sword firmly. As he moved closer the sword pierced through his shoulder and penetrated deeper inside his body. He continued to move forward.

"Whaaat….what are you doing?" she asked him, startled.

He was practically impaling himself on her sword, but it didn't matter. The pain was secondary to the excitement. He was close enough and she didn't know what to do. He thrust his sword into her stomach. The thrust was deep and he kept his sword in. The blood came out of her mouth.

She stumbled backwards, taking with her the sword out of his shoulder and then slowly as an autumn leaf falling from the tree, dropped on the ground.

Only now he began to feel the pain as well and collapsed on one knee. Suddenly he felt a blow to his face which made him fall backwards. As he opened his eyes he saw Masaki standing above him, his eyes shining with rage. He twisted and broke Eric's hand, took away his sword, and began to beat the hell out of him with his bare hands, shouting some words in Japanese.

It seemed to Eric that Masaki suddenly grew much stronger. He felt like a punching bag, but couldn't or didn't really care to do anything.

Fujiwara stood up and cried out something in Japanese. But Masaki ignored him and continued to beat Eric.

Fujiwara shouted again, this time only two words with a very strict voice.

Masaki finally stopped.

Eric got up slowly and wiped the blood from his mouth. Yuki who was still lying on the ground immovable.

"What the fuck are you so upset about? Your girlfriend will be up in few minutes," he said in rather condescending tone to Masaki, who was still shaking from anger.

Masaki didn't respond and went over to Yuki. So did Eric, but kept a safe distance from Masaki.

Yuki opened her eyes, turned to the side and spat out some blood. She stood up with Masaki's help and her face grimaced with pain. Eric was prepared for an angry outburst from her, but instead she gave him a glassy stare and her mouth opened in a creepy grin, with her teeth and lips being still all bloody.

"You wanted to fucking kill me! What the hell possessed you to do this?"

He looked again, to make sure, but no, it was not anger or resentment that he found in her eyes, it was with some kind of a crazed excitement and even admiration that she was gazing upon him.

He felt puzzled and uncomfortable and tried to avoid her stare.

"I just did what I had to do. It's fighting not playing, Yuki," he said coldly.

Her eyes sparkled. This time he could detect a drop of resentment in them.

Fujiwara asked her something in Japanese and she nodded in return. Then he addressed them all in English: "Ok, we will take a short break so Yuki can heal and then we shall continue."

Masaki disappeared in the house and returned with a cup of bitter blood for Yuki. He didn't bring any additional cups for himself or Eric. Masaki and Yuki sat both on the porch talking among themselves in Japanese, while Eric sat down on the other side of the porch, alone.

Fujiwara approached him.

"Eric san, you made a very interesting decision in your fight. It's a very admirable tactic, as long as it's used for the right reason and it can still benefit the end results. Unfortunately, your decision to do that was impulsive and selfish. Your desire to revenge at Yuki was stronger than to complete your mission and you lost."

Eric knew Fujiwara was right. His emotions got the better of him. He wanted to take control, but he actually lost it. He was about to say to Fujiwara that in the next round he will do things differently, when Fujiwara's face suddenly became very serious. He said few words in Japanese to Yuki and Masaki and disappeared inside the house. Eric felt a presence of another vampire. Fujiwara received a guest.

Yuki approached him and said: "The training is over for today, we shall continue tomorrow. You may leave."

"Would you mind telling me why and who is the distinguished guest that just arrived?" he asked.

"Please leave, it's an internal matter."

"I see. Well, I think in overall, it was a pretty good training, wouldn't you say?"

There was no response.

"Ok then, see you tomorrow."

Neither of them bothered to say goodbye, but Masaki followed him inside. Eric was hoping to eavesdrop on Fujiwara and his secretive guest, but Masaki was following him closely, keeping just few steps behind. He had no choice but to proceed towards the exit. As he passed the gate of the residence he could still see Masaki's serious face observing him from the entrance of the house.

* * *

><p>Eric was lying awake in his vault, wondering what kind of training Fujiwara prepared for tonight. He wasn't too eager to practice with Yuki. He still felt a little weird about what happened last night, even though she didn't really seem to resent him. He definitely wouldn't like to practice with Masaki again, who surely resented him. He began to contemplate about the secretive guest that paid Fujiwara a visit last night, when a feeling of a presence interrupted his thoughts. He became alert. He heard footsteps and they were not Pam's.<p>

By now he could easily recognize the small swift almost unperceivable steps. Then, there was no sound at all anymore, until he heard the door to his vault opening. The visitor was obviously trying very hard not to be heard and Eric had to giggle at this poor and vain attempt of surprising him.

"Come on in, Yuki! If you planned to secretly creep in my bed, you failed miserably," he said, and smiled to himself with satisfaction.

His vampire sight quickly adjusted to the darkness in his vault and he could see her pale face staring down on him as she materialized besides his bed.

"Oh Eric san, your senses improved so much. You can now brilliantly detect somebody that is standing three meters away from you," she imitated Fujiwara mockingly.

Eric sighed and closed his eyes. "What do you want Yuki, I believe I still have at least one hour before training starts, so I would appreciate if you get the hell out of here. Unless," he looked at her provocatively, "you want to join me in my bed? It's not a royal one, but I still promise you will feel like a queen."

Yuki briefly glanced over his naked body, and sniffed at him: "Dress up! We need to go, the training will be elsewhere tonight…"

He got interested. "Where exactly?"

"I'll explain you when we are on our way….could you hurry up!"

He got up from the bed and began to dress. Yuki respectfully turned around.

"You know he is interested in you just to spite me?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she asked still with her back towards him.

"The king. I mean not that I care, but he thinks I do…"

She turned and rolled her eyes at him. "Fuck! You and Bill should really just do each other and get it over with.."

He rose an eyebrow at her smugly. "I'd much rather you do me…"

She grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him towards the door. "Come on already!"

On their way through the bar she took something from the counter and put it around her shoulder. Two swords were now hanging over her back as she proceeded out of Fangtasia.

Eric stopped her. "Wait a minute Yuki. Tell me first what is this all about? You surely don't expect me to follow you blindly, do you? With swords on your back…"

She smiled at him innocently. "Nothing special, it's just another training, but we'll do it in the nature this time. We'll need your car. Come!"

She walked swiftly towards the garage.

Eric found it all very suspicious but he followed her. He took out his corvette and they drove in the direction Yuki indicated him.

After some time passed she told him to drive off the main road and park the car. He recognized the place. It was near that unfortunate hill where he first met her and Fujiwara.

Yuki jumped out of the car and gestured Eric to follow her.

They passed over the small hill and entered the woods.

Yuki was zipping through the dark forest like some wild creature, jumping elegantly back and forth between the ground and trees and Eric had a real hard time keeping up with her.

"Come on already…Obaasan would move faster than you," she called to him from some undeterminable position when he lost sight of her. They were going deeper into the forest, which became more and more impenetrable.

Eric was moving fast, following Yuki rather with his other senses than by vision as she was way ahead of him. Suddenly he realized that he lost track of her. He moved in the direction he deemed correct but after a while he stopped.

"Yuki!" he called out but there was no answer except for an owl's cry.

Suddenly she jumped in front of him from a tree.

"Fuck!" he shouted, annoyed that she managed to sneak up on him like this. "I'm not going any further unless you tell me what is this all about!"

"Few more minutes and we are there. Then I'll explain you everything," she said and disappeared again.

"There where?" he said looking around the forest, which became creepily dark and silent. She didn't answer and he dully followed.

Suddenly he felt something and almost at the same moment saw a flickering light in the distance. He hid behind one of the trees and listened. He could hear voices. He and Yuki were not the only visitors in the forest.

He proceeded forward stealthily and stopped at the edge of what it seemed to be a small encampment with a couple of tents and few jeeps, some with trailers, parked in the vicinity. The flickering light he saw before was coming from a fire, in the middle of it. On the opposite side of where he was standing, a dirt track was leading away from the camp.

Eric was well hidden within the darkness of the forest, tackled behind the trees and bushes. He crouched down to observe the site closely. There was some movement in front of one of the tents and he saw few individuals sitting down at a safe distance from the fire. They began to chat and one of them picked up a considerable chunk of meat and began to chew on it. He could tell by the smell they were werewolves.

He felt Yuki behind him.

"What…"

"Shhh….."

"What is going on?" he whispered.

She looked at him with an impish smile. "We have an assignment."

Her eyes flashed green as she passed him one of the swords.


	14. Chapter 14

17.

»I know you think we are all barbarians but to massacre few random weres just to test my sword skills is a bit over the top, don't you think?« said Eric as he took the sword from Yuki.

»Keep your voice down dammit...now listen to me...We are here to observe and to observe only, unless instructed otherwise. So you stay here and do not move!« said Yuki in a very serious commanding tone, her green eyes sparkling with excitement

»And what are you going to do?«

»I'm going to assess the situation...in case we have to act.«

Eric frowned at her. »If all I'm supposed to do is to squat in the bushes, then why the fuck did you drag me with you?«

"Hmmmm..." A silly wondering expression appeared on Yuki's face, as if she was trying really hard to think about Eric's question. "I suppose Fujisama thought it would be good for you to observe an expert – myself – at work and if worse comes to worst to test your skills in a more realistic situation. It was his order to bring you along. As far as I'm concerned I would be better off alone,« she finally said with a light air of condescension, which irritated him.

She wanted to get up but he pulled her back down. "You expect me to just sit here and do nothing? Who are these motherfuckers anyway?"

"That is exactly what I expect you to do. And who are they it does not concern you or me. We are here to follow Fujiwara's orders." She leaned closer and looking at him intensely whispered to him: »I mean it Northman don't screw things up this time. We are not on a playground anymore.« Then she vanished into the forest.

Eric clenched his teeth in anger. He could hardly stand her patronizing attitude and he didn't like to do things without knowing the reason for it. To simply follow the orders, especially from Fujiwara, was just not in his nature. He wondered why Fujiwara really wanted him to be here. There must be more to this than it seems.

Eric peeked through the bushes at the camp. Nothing changed. Four werewolves were still sitting there, quietly chewing on their meat. He observed the men closely. They were well built, tall and did not appear to be locals. Their voices were too hushed for Eric to understand what they were talking about, but he could discern that their language was not English.

Suddenly, on the other side of the encampment, behind the werewolves' backs, he saw Yuki's pale face appearing among the bushes like some creepy ghost. It looked as if she was checking up on him to make sure he stayed put. When she saw that he noticed her she stuck out her tongue at him and then her pale face disappeared among the bushes again.

Eric shook his head. _What a fucking child_, he thought.

Just as she disappeared, one of the werewolves stood up and gestured the others to do the same. They placed down their meat and obeyed. Two more men came from the second tent. They were dressed in military outfits, carrying large machetes behind their belts. Then another man came from the same tent. He was dressed similarly as the other two, except that he wore a scarf covering his head and face. Upon seeing the man in scarf, Eric felt an unpleasant sensation. He saw the man only from the back, but there was something familiar about him. The man with the scarf proceeded toward the werewolves who stood in line, bowing down their heads respectfully. He pulled up his sleeves, unveiled his scarf slightly and bit into his wrists. The werewolves slowly came to him, opening their mouths to receive few drops of blood dripping from the man's wrists. Some of them howled from the excitement after receiving the blood. The man with the scarf seemed to be pleased. The other two men stood on the side and smiled maliciously, revealing their fangs.

After all the werewolves received their portion of blood, the man adjusted his scarf and sleeves when something outside the camp seemed to have cought his attention. He turned his head, exposing his profile to Eric, and put up his hand for the werewolves to be quiet. Then he gave a sign to one of them, who immediately changed into a huge black wolf and ran in the direction pointed by the vampire.

_Yuki_, thought Eric. _He must have heard her._

He nervously stretched his neck trying to see something but it was all trees and bushes. He was about to move towards that direction himself when the wolf returned, carrying in his mouth a small deer.

Eric sighed with relief. The group in front of the tents laughed. The werewolf changed back to his human form and threw the deer in the middle. The deer was bleeding heavily from the bite wound but was still alive. One of the vampires took his machete and with a very fast motion, cut the deer's head off and kicked it around for fun.

The werewolves began to tear the deer's body apart and feast on the wild game. The vampire in the scarf, looked around again, turning this time also in direction of Eric. The few seconds the vampire was facing him were enough for Eric to realize why he found the man so familiar. His dark almond shaped eyes and thick eyebrows on the scarf covered face instantly reminded him of the nightmare he had about Sookie imprisoned and tortured by Russell. Eric ducked down quickly into the bushes. _Can this be true, is this really the vampire from his dream?_

Everything fit, his appearance, the scarf, the black werewolves, and considering Fujiwara's interest, they must have some ties to Russell.

_Still, how can that be! That was just a dream, a very vivid, horrifying one, but still only a dream. Perhaps it is just another soldier, after all he had a scarf over his face, he could have easily made a mistake._

Thoughts were racing through his head as he was trying to convince himself that is all just a coincidence, yet, he could not shake that awkward feeling which began to turn into a bad presentiment.

_If this was the vampire from the dream, then Sookie_...he dismissed the thought before he finished it.

He took a deep breath and looked again at the camp. The vampires and the wolves began to discuss something in low and indistinct voices. They seemed to be very focused on their conversation, so Eric took the opportunity and crawled to the back of the white tent, from which the vampires came out. He took the sword from the scabbard and held it up.

_If they are after Sookie, I have to know!_ He smirked at the idea of how much Yuki will be displeased with what he was about to do and then cut silently with the sword through the tent. He made a big enough opening to enter inside.

A small oil lamp hanging from the middle of the tent barely provided any light at all, but it was more than sufficient for a vampire. In the middle of the tent there was a table with a small chest on it and some papers scattered around. Three deep holes were dug in the ground, each one filled with a large iron chest, reminding a coffin. _Their beds_, thought Eric.

He walked toward the table, placed his sword on the ground and examined the papers. He found detailed maps of various Southern states, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas and some kind of population reports on various towns and villages in Oklahoma from different periods. He noticed some of the names were underlined, but he couldn't make any sense of it. He tried to open the small chest. It was locked. He looked around and noticed a large fabric bag near one of the holes. He opened it and found few bottles of Tru Blood, some clothes and a small pocket knife. He took the knife and tried to pick the lock on the chest with it as quietly as possible in order not to alert the werewolves or vampires. After few tries the lock finally gave in and Eric opened the chest.

In it, he found a scroll, that looked very old and few papers. He first unrolled the scroll. The large one contained two smaller scrolls inside. Eric stretched them out carefully. On the top of the first scroll there were some sort of insignia and a large circular object of a golden colour from which lines extended downwards, forming a kind of a diagram that resembled a family tree, throughout the three pages. Everything was written in Japanese letters. Eric looked through it again but it was pointless, he could not understand a thing.

Just as he took out the remaining papers from the chest, he heard footsteps outside the tent. He quickly glanced over them and they looked similar to the Japanese scrolls, only this time written in Latin letters. Eric's eyes shined as he quickly browsed through the content, but before he could finish, one of the vampires walked inside the tent and upon seeing Eric immediately released his fangs. In an instant the tent filled up with four werewolves and the remaining two vampires, now all maliciously staring at Eric.

Eric knew he had to act fast. He quickly glanced at the papers again, then picked up his sword and jumped out through the cut at the back of the tent, taking the papers with him.

The werewolves changed and charged after him, almost pulling the tent down in the process. They chased him around the tent, toward the middle of the camp and encircled him. The three vampires came out and attentively observed the whole thing.

Eric quickly assessed the situation. With four weres filled with vampire blood around him, it was not going to be easy. Fujiwara's lessons came to his mind.

_Just focus and don't think too much! I have a sword, they are just stupid animals._

The werewolves were moving anxiously around him, but did not attack. They tried to approach him from the back but Eric was keeping his guard well. As soon as he sensed their intent to attack he turned towards them with the sword and they immediately retreated.

The two vampires were grinning and impatiently stroking their machetes. They were clearly enjoying the show.

"Ale, ale...what are you dogs waiting for..."one of them called out in a heavy French accent, but the werewolves ignored him.

Then the man in scarf spoke. Eric looked at him again briefly and he reminded him even more of the man in his dream. His commands were in Dutch and Eric understood them perfectly: "Take the papers. Hurt him but don't kill him."

After giving the command, he went inside the broken tent, while one of the werewolves jumped dangerously close to Eric and began to provoke him. Eric had to use his sword to keep him at distance. At the same moment one of the wolves attacked him from the back, pushed him on the ground and bit his hand holding the sword. While he was trying to free his hand, the other wolf managed to snatch the papers from him and took them to the vampire inside the tent.

Soon all the four wolves engaged in attack and it took Eric a while before he got on his feet again. It hurt but he was healing fast. The wolves were very strong, and suddenly did not appear so stupid anymore.

_Not to kill me?_ thought Eric as he stared at wolves' hungry eyes, having some doubt that the beasts will comply with their master's order.

He thought of Yuki. _Where the fuck is she? This surely couldn't escape her attention…_

The two vampires were laughing and the wolves began to growl intensely. He could feel their murderous intent. He gripped the sword tightly and said out loud: "NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT!" hoping that Yuki would understand the hint. But there was no sign of her.

The werewolves and two vampires looked at him with some bewilderment and then became even more aggressive. The wolves close in on him and decided to attack. Just as two of them came forward, Yuki appeared in front of Eric and sent them both flying backwards, hurting one of them substantially with the sword, so that the beast yelped from pain.

Then she turned to Eric. Her eyes were flashing with anger.

"Fuck Northman I told you not to move, didn't I! Fuck! I should have known better! Fujisama will kill us!"

"Really Yuki, I couldn't care less about Fujiwara right now... just shut the fuck up and fight!"

"As if I had any other choice..." she replied angrily.

At the yelp of the wounded werewolf, the vampire with the scarf came out of the tent carrying the chest. Seeing Yuki and the injured werewolf, he called out to the two vampires:" Mordacq, Donnier engage!"

The two vampires leered with excitement at Yuki.

"Petite madame, how about we have some fun, mmm? " asked one of the vampires, licking his lips as if he was about to start on a desert.

Yuki looked at them with a mix of contempt and disgust and spoke calmly: "Oh, don't worry I will have fun with you French merdas...I already had quite some fun with one of your friends, I believe..."

The vampires' faces changed. "Putain!" hissed the second one and held up his large machete.

Two of the werewolves ran after the vampire with the scarf who headed with the chest towards the cars.

_Shit! He is going to escape!_ thought Eric, and wanted to go after him, but the remaining two wolves, blocked his way. The one wounded from Yuki's sword, was in full readiness to attack, despite that he was still bleeding heavily.

The two vampires were slowly closing on Yuki. He had to help her. He turned back and charged against them.

From then on it was all happening very fast. The weres, the vampires, Yuki and himself were all entangled in the fight and the situation became very chaotic.

Eric had to defend against the deadly machetes as well as avoid the werewolves who were waiting for their opportunity. He felt awkward and clumsy with his sword. It was nothing like in the training. He had no control over what he was doing and any of the techniques he learned so far, were of no use. All he could do was to avoid being killed.

Yuki had to come to his rescue many times. She was defending herself as much as she was defending him. In the midst of this confusion he saw the piercing eyes of the vampire with the scarf, observing him from the far. The two wolves that accompanied him turned to human form and started one of the jeeps. A malicious smile directed to Eric reflected in vampire's eyes, just before he jumped into the jeep and drove off in the company of his two werewolves.

Eric had his doubts that the remaining men will leave them alive as it was initially instructed. In fact as soon as the jeep drove away he sensed that the enemies' wish to kill them increased and that without the vampire in scarf present, they could do as they pleased.

Suddenly Yuki jumped in front of him just in time to block the sharp machete swinging dangerously close to his head. Engrossed in his thoughts he didn't even see it coming.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ERIC!" she shouted at him while still struggling with the huge vampire.

Before he realized the machete of the second vampire cut deep into his shoulder. He stumbled back, letting his guard down. One of the black werewolves, the injured one, jumped on him in that moment. He heard Yuki shouting his name and instinctively raised his sword up in the last instant so that the beast impaled on it. He fell down under the heavy body of the werewolf.

His sword was still stuck in the wolf when the vampire's face appeared above him. The next thing he saw was the machete coming towards his neck.

That's it, he thought. A feeling of resignation came over him and he closed his eyes. But instead of expected oblivion, the sound of steel against steel awaken his senses again and he saw Yuki's sword blocking the machete just inches from his neck. She pushed the vampire back, swiftly cut across his abdomen, and before the vampire managed to regain his balance she cut again over his back.

Eric, as if in a trance, was observing Yuki from the ground and thought how strong she was for a vampire half of his age. Her moves seemed so elegant and effortless and for the first time he understood what Fujiwara meant when he was speaking of beauty in the sword fighting.

He scrambled to his feet and wanted to thank her, but before he had a chance to say anything, she hissed angrily in his face with her fangs fully out: "WAKE UP! This is no fucking game!"

At that moment, the wounded vampire rose up behind Yuki's back and swung his machete towards her. Eric pushed her away just in time, but she still got cut quite badly.

She retreated few steps back and now both vampires followed her. She was keeping them at distance as much as she could, barely managing their interchangeable attacks.

The remaining werewolf positioned himself in front of Eric and growled loudly.

Yuki was bleeding heavily from several cuts she received, which weaken her considerably. She was more and more defending and less attacking.

Eric was nervously glancing now at Yuki now at the werewolf in front of him. He could see she was in trouble. He wanted to help her, but the werewolf, hungry for vengeance of his dead colleague, kept a close watch, waiting for the right opportunity to attack.

One of the vampires managed to stab Yuki from the front and she fell down on her knee. She pressed with her left hand on her stomach and bent the head in pain. In her right hand, she was still holding the sword.

The two vampires, standing each on one side, were looking down on her and began to converse in French. Eric tightened the grip on his sword upon hearing their words. They were discussing if to cut her head off now or fuck her first.

"Why not have some fun, I never had something so exotic and neither did you..."said one of them.

"Fine, let me cut her some more so she will be easier to handle ...feisty little thing she is, I like them this way..."said the other, drooling over Yuki, who was still leaning on her knee between them.

They both slashed down across Yuki's back at the same time. She arched from pain, but did not emit a sound. The blood came rushing out from two deep wounds on her back.

The vampires laughed and prepared their machetes again.

"Let's just kill the bitch...she killed Maurice and we don't have much time to play anyway," said one of the vampires and the other nodded in agreement.

Eric felt like his mind was going to explode. He rushed forward with such a determination that he split the huge black werewolf, who jumped on him as soon as he moved, in half, across all the length of his body. But even so he was too late. The two machetes were already swinging down towards Yuki.

Suddenly, she raised her head slightly, so that he could see her green eyes looking at him from under her hair. A mysterious light flashed through them and she smirked. In one motion she moved slightly forward and placed her sword across her back to block the machetes. The timing was perfect. Then she jumped up and while in the air she turned around and cut at the necks of the startled vampires who were still standing exposed with their machetes pointing down to where she was supposed to kneel. Two heads almost simultaneously detached from the vampires' bodies and both the heads and the bodies burst in pieces before they fell on the ground.

For few seconds she just stood there, and when it was evident that there was no threat anymore, she collapsed on her knees again. Eric, relieved and impressed by Yuki's performance, came to her assistance but she nonchalantly dismissed his help and sat down, leaning against a small tree. She was all bloody and her wounds were deep.

She was looking accusingly at him and he didn't know how to approach her.

"Yuki, there is something I need to tell you..."

"I told you to stay put didn't I?" she interrupted him.

He squatted down, put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her seriously. She saved his life and the least he could do is to explain her why he did this.

"Listen to me, these men..."

"Next time you decide to do something so stupid at least make sure you are up to it..." She looked at him with her green eyes full of contempt.

Her words and even more so the look in her eyes, hurt him and he stared at her in silence.

Without saying anything further, he stood up and left towards the tents to check if they left anything behind. The iron coffins were still there, together with the table, but everything else was gone. In the second tent and in the remaining cars he also didn't find anything of importance. They left no trace of who they were or where they were going.

But he still remembered the content of the papers he found in the chest. They were a translation of the Japanese scrolls, he was sure of it. The diagram was a simplified replica of the one drawn in the scrolls. The word written in big letters on the top said MIROR and the branches that followed from it bore names of persons and states. He was interrupted by the vampire before he could read them all and he forgot most of the names, but he remembered well the state written next to the last name in the diagram. It was Oklahoma.

This was no coincidence. The conversation between Fujiwara and the unknown man he overheard the night he spent at Fujiwara's residence was about the mirror and Russell allegedly taking control over southern states just to find it. Considering these were almost surely Russell's men, he discovered another piece of the puzzle. This valuable object – a mirror - in which both Fujiwara and Russell were so interested was somehow connected with the state of Oklahoma.

He returned to Yuki. She was still sitting with her back against the tree, unable to move. She was in pain, he could see that.

She lifted her head, staring at him with empty eyes. "It's good it was not Sookie you had to protect tonight or she would make a nice sex toy in the hands of those two French fuckers before she would be turned over as food to the weres," she said mockingly.

This was too much for Eric. He grabbed her roughly by the collar of the shirt and pulled her closer. She was so weak that her body was completely soft in his hands. "Do you think I don't know that! For once Yuki, keep your mouth shut!" Then he released her and began walking away.

"Hey...are you going to leave me here like this..."

He kept walking.

"I won't heal fast enough to get home..." she said with a weak voice, but there was no plea in her tone, she spoke as if she was merely stating a fact.

"I don't give a fuck Yuki, bury yourself or die...it's all the same to me...I couldn't care less," he finally responded.

He could hear her quiet laugh, broken from the pain, spreading through the silent forest.

Intense emotions tortured his mind as he left her behind.


	15. Chapter 15

18.

Pam was sitting on one of the sofas at the bar and with her hands crossed in front quietly observing Eric pacing around in silence like an enraged caged animal.

She was waiting for him to say something, to clarify his abrupt arrival or at least to explain the bloody sword he was holding in his hand, but he seemed to be locked away into his own world. By the expression on his face she concluded he must be waging a war with himself.

"Eric!"

He didn't seem to hear her. A random chair that happened to be on his way suddenly flew across the bar and smashed into the wall.

"ERIC!" she repeated louder.

Like an awaken beast he turned in her direction and suddenly appeared right in front of her face.

"Why do you like her?" he asked.

"What...who?" Pam leaned backwards.

"Yuki...why do you like her so much?" he asked again. His voice was loaded with frustration.

"Well...It's not like I like her so much..."

"You know what I mean Pam. Unless they serve you as food or for sex, you are more selective than anyone I've ever known when it comes to making new acquaintances. And yet with Yuki, you seem so awfully friendly...why?"

Pam pushed him away and stood up from the sofa.

"I find her interesting...she seems so out of place here...I don't know... it's a stupid question. Oh fuck Eric," she exclaimed as if a sudden realization came over her. Her eyes lowered at the bloody sword Eric was still holding in his hand. "Did you kill her?"

Eric frowned. "What...no..no! I left her there..."

Pam took a step closer and grabbed him by the elbow. "What do you mean...you left her WHERE?"

Eric sat down, nervously avoiding Pam's stare.

"In the woods. We had a fight. With some weres amd vamps, probably Russell's. We almost both got killed. She got injured, badly and I...I just left her there..."

"Shit Eric, how could you do something like that..." Pam's face grimaced from worries. "Did you even consider the consequences if something happens to her? It's not like you to leave somebody behind, less a fellow warrior...what the hell happened?"

Eric stood up and began to pace around again in agitation.

"She...I cannot stand her! I tried, Pam, I really tried to be nice to her, and it would be to my own benefit too, but that... that fucking attitude of hers...she brings the worst out of me...I swear I would kill her myself tonight if she hadn't saved..."

He didn't finish his sentence. His gaze became distant as if a sudden thought consumed him at once.

"I need to go back and get her..." he said in a swift change.

Pam used all her strength to stop him at the door. "Eric, wait a minute, let's think this through. To go back to the woods now would be insane. The sun will be up in few minutes, you will never reach her in time. Does she have a phone?"

"Possibly, but I don't know her number...move!"

"What about the attackers?"

"We killed them all..."

"Then listen. Yuki is a tough one, I'm sure she can take care of herself. How she will return you the favour that's another question. But for now its best you go to sleep, there is nothing you can do till tomorrow..."

Eric was clearly in distress, but Pam's rational calmness persuaded him to return inside.

"I like her because I know I can count on her," said Pam unexpectedly as she followed him to his vault.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Yuki...I can count on her to watch over you... to have your back when you will get in trouble on this crazy mission. Don't ask me how I know this. I just do."

"You couldn't be more wrong. Yuki follows blindly Fujiwara's orders, she would kill us in our sleep if ordered to do so."

"Perhaps, but my intuition, which you know it's never wrong, tells me differently. She is one of those rare vamps that in all their weirdness, they come through when really needed. I trust her."

"If this is an attempt to make me feel even worse about leaving her there Pam, don't bother I already fell quite shitty..."

"I know you do. It must be a whole new experience for you," she said with a playful glow in her eyes.

* * *

><p>The next evening, Eric was rushing down the hall of Fujiwara's residence at the earliest hour possible. He found Fujiwara standing on the top of his usual place of observation - the small podium in the middle of the backyard.<p>

"Good evening Mr. Fujiwara..." said Eric in a gloomy voice.

Fujiwara acknowledged his greetings with a nod but barely looked in his direction.

Eric anxiously looked around to see Yuki, but there was no sign of her. He slowly approached the podium, contemplating on the the best way to inquire Fujiwara about the whereabouts of Yuki without disclosing too much information.

He was about to speak when Fujiwara came to the edge of the podium and asked sharply:"Where is Yuki?"

Eric detected displeasure in his unusually strict voice.

_Shit, she hasn't return yet_! He became genuinely worried.

"I don't know..." he replied bleakly. The whole explanation of the course of events to Fujiwara suddenly seemed quite unimportant and Eric was overcome by an unfamiliar feeling of emptiness.

Fujiwara fixed his probing eyes on him for a moment and then return to stride back and forth on the small elevated surface.

"You two had a mission. I believe Yuki passed you the orders?"

Fujiwara's strict voice was unpleasantly resonating in Eric's ears.

"They were very clear and simple. NOT to interfere!"

Eric looked up just to find himself face to face with Fujiwara, now standing in front of him on the ground. His nearness was menacing.

It was a moment of tension, which Eric felt was not going to end peacefully.

_What chances do I have against somebody like Fujiwara? Probably none_, he thought, surprising himself of how much he didn't give a shit about it.

A slight breeze caressed his right cheek. He felt her presence by his side, before he even looked.

_Yuki..._

"Yuki!" he repeated, but this time out loud.

As if she didn't notice him at all, she immediately kneeled on one knee in front of Fujiwara and began to explain something at length in Japanese.

Eric figured she was probably reporting on last night's events. He observed her with a caring glow in his eyes. Her clothes were stained with blood and torn, and she was covered in dirt with some leafs stuck in her hair.

The relief he felt at that moment was such that he barely controlled the strange urge to pinch, squeeze or simply hug her upon her appearance. He dismissed the embarrassing thoughts and satisfied himself by staring at her, while his mouth kept widening into an unintended smile.

After she finished reporting, Fujiwara turned his back on them, strolled back and forth some more and then addressed Eric closely: "She said the mission went wrong due to her hasty decision to act. Do you confirm this, Eric san?"

"Mr. Fujiwara...by no means Yuki is responsible for anything that happened," rushed Eric to explain.

"Shut up, Eric!" hissed Yuki still kneeling besides him.

"She made it clear to me to stay in hiding, but I decided on my own to look around and they discovered me. Yuki interfered only to save me," he continued.

"Is that so..." said Fujiwara, with his hands now crossed behind his back. He seemed to be contemplating for a moment on what Eric said and then he turned towards Yuki again. In a sudden motion he slapped her with such force that she smashed into the wall of the residence few meters away.

Eric stepped immediately in front of Fujiwara, released his fangs and looked at him menacingly.

"That was unnecessary..." he hissed with calm but threatening voice. His fists clenched in anger.

Fujiwara met his provocation with a smirk and his black eyes filled with amusement.

Yuki returned to Eric's side in an instant and tried to contain him. Her hand was gently pushing him backwards, away from Fujiwara. She was bleeding from her ears and nose, and her face was swollen from the slap and the encounter with the wall.

Fujiwara, now looking more relaxed, exhaled deeply and continued casually as if nothing happened: "The mission was Yuki's responsibility and I do not like it when my orders are disobeyed."

Eric was barely controlling himself. He wanted to jump on Fujiwara with all his might.

"Now you two will have to repair the damage, which was caused by your disobedience. You see, the group you saw in the woods was waiting for their accomplices to join them. It was their accomplices that were of an interest to us, as I believe Mr Edgington was among them. But instead, your intervention alerted them and now they went into hiding."

"Are you sure Russell was among them?" asked Eric, calming down a little upon hearing Russell's name.

Fujiwara ignored his question and continued: "I don't care how you do it, but you will find out where the other party is and kill them all."

His voice became increasingly commanding.

"There is another, minor matter, which you will attend to in the process. Russell or his men kidnapped a person of a certain importance to me. I want you to take care of that too and bring that person back alive."

"If you say they went into hiding, how do you expect us to find them?"asked Eric.

"As you would say it in your own language...I don't give a fuck how you do it. They were last spotted somewhere on the south eastern border of Oklahoma and that is all the information I can give you."

The information got Eric's full attention and he prodded further, despite reprimanding looks from Yuki.

"If this matter is of such an importance to you, Mr Fujiwara, why don't you join us in the search?"

"I am a high profile JVL official, and certainly cannot get involved in any local business. That is why we have made our little arrangement, don't you remember Eric san? Unless, you feel like changing your mind...in which case I would be no longer obliged to attend the matters concerning Ms Sookie's protection..."

"I understand perfectly Mr. Fujiwara...I'll be happy to offer you my assistance," said Eric, hardly disguising the enmity he felt toward Fujiwara at that moment.

"And by the way, I would strongly recommend you two re-examine your co-operation tactics. The fact that both of you barely managed to overpower a group of weres and vampires and even left some of them to escape is very problematic. Russell will have you both for breakfast if you don't do something about it."

Eric and Yuki were both embarrassed by his remark and avoided eye contact with each other and Fujiwara.

"You will leave immediately! Yuki, I expect positive news in two days."

Yuki acknowledge Fujiwara's command with an immediate "Hai Sensei" and obediently bowed as low as possible when he strolled past her towards the house.

Eric did not like the power Fujiwara had over him, but the new mission intrigued him and he had his own interests to take part in it. It all kept revolving around the mysterious object that Fujiwara and Russell wanted and this might be the chance to get his hands on it first.

_And then it will be payback!_

"We should leave immediately," Yuki's authoritative voice awaken him from his scheming.

She began walking towards the house, but Eric grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back. She seemed so consumed with the orders she just received that she completely disregarded what happened last night. Eric, however, could not.

"Wait Yuki..."

Suddenly he was at a loss for words and he just stared at her. She looked at him impatiently.

"So?"

Instead of answering he passed his hand gently over her face.

She flinched but did not avoid his hand and kept looking at him attentively, in full preparedness to act if needed.

"Relax, I just wanted to say that...well, I'm glad you're okay. How did you manage to arrive back so fast?"

"I hitchhiked," she replied rather coldly, while picking few leaves from her messy pony tail. "And please, next time when such situations arise, do not interfere in my business with Fujiwara sama"

"You don't really believe I would let you take all the blame? Not that it helped much anyway...the old man certainly can't control his anger very well..."

"Oh, Eric..." she lowered her eyes and shook her head dismissively. "You really have no idea, do you...about the way our relationships function. Your intervention was completely out of place. If I wasn't a vampire, I would be cutting my stomach right now. And do you think Fujisama was angry?...Heh... Believe me, he was not even close to angry. In fact he was quite merciful. Come on, we need to go."

Eric remained on place.

"Where exactly do you want to go? The information Fujiwara gave us is useless. We can't just search all the south Oklahoma..."

"South east..."

"Yeah, that really narrows it down...besides they might not even be there anymore."

She blinked her eyes at him and upon realizing he was right, she began to nervously walking around.

"Then, what do you suggest we do?"

Eric was silently enjoying having for once the upper hand over the situation. Yuki was desperate to please Fujiwara and this time she needed his help to do it.

He stalled on purpose and then replied casually as if he just came up with the idea: "Well, I suppose I could ask some of my sources if they noticed any suspicious activity. I have few acquaintances in that area."

He hid well the fact that he was as much interested in the mission as Yuki was, although from very different reasons.

Yuki immediately agreed. "That would be great! How fast can you get this information?"

"I need to make some phone calls and also activate Pam, she knows...heeeyy...what?!"

Yuki began to pull him forcefully towards the house.

"Great, I'll drive and you'll make the calls on the way!"

* * *

><p>"All right! You will drive as long as I'm on the phone and then we'll switch, ok?" Eric finally surrendered to Yuki's persistence and gave her the keys of his Corvette.<p>

"No problem!" she said smiling complacently and placed with care her sword on the back seat.

As soon as he sat inside she drove off from the courtyard of the mansion at full speed, barely leaving the time for the door of the fence to open wide enough so the car could pass.

Although Eric was a fast driver himself, he disliked very much to be on a passenger's seat when driven around by somebody with the same speed preferences. He didn't trust another driver's abilities and he could never properly relax when the wheel was steered by another person and least of all by another vampire, who, lacking the fear of being injured, were known to be notoriously careless drivers.

But Yuki's speeding was beyond any good taste. He knew she was eager to complete the task as soon as possible, nevertheless, the excitement with which she was pressing on the gas pedal caused him to suspect that she partly used the mission as an excuse to push the Corvette to its limits.

On more than one occasion her manoeuvring through the traffic of the early evening hours was acrobatic to say the least, and although Yuki assured him that she was in complete control at all times, he was quite certain that it was pure luck that the Corvette came out of it without a scratch.

"Slow down Yuki!" he ordered after she systematically ignored a number of basic traffic regulations.

"Are you afraid?" She grinned at him and pressed on the pedal.

He rolled his eyes and sat comfortably back in the chair trying to conceal his nervousness.

"I get it...you are doing this because of what happened in the woods..."

"You mean when you left me there to die?"

"I didn't mean to...it's just that you...you are so...you can be pretty much unbearable sometimes!"

Yuki looked at him from below her forehead. A car coming towards them beeped nervously as she confidently drove on the wrong side of the road for a prolonged time to pass the vehicles that were going too slow for her taste.

"Fuck...at least look at the road!" he yelled.

She slowed down a little.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered that Japanese drove as English, on the "wrong" side of the road. The thought made him even more nervous.

"I shouldn't have left..." he admitted out of the blue.

She shifted her eyes between him and the road few times, as if she was having a hard time accepting his admission.

"You shouldn't, but if you help me with this mission, I'll forgive you."

"Don't you ever get fed up with blindly obeying your sadistic master?"

She replied with a smile.

"I suppose you will say again that I don't understand your so complicated relationships and duties..." he said mockingly.

"Just call the contacts will you?" she insisted.

Eric observed her for some more, then took out his phone and began to make phone calls.

"So?" asked Yuki eagerly after he put his phone in the pocket.

"I found them. My sources saw a group of suspicious individuals in ****. By their description they fit the profile of Russell's men. I instructed Pam to call up a certain local connection to find out more details."

"That's great!" said Yuki enthusiastically and looked at him with genuine admiration. "I must say I didn't know you can be so efficient...I'm almost impressed..."

She pressed on the gas pedal again. "I think Fujiwara will be pleasantly surprised."

"You certainly have some daddy issues, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind, drive to Fangtasia, we'll spend the night there and leave tomorrow as soon as the sun sets."

"What? No, no, no, we have to leave tonight!"

"Absolutely not. I had enough upsets for today and I need to attend to certain obligations of mine...besides to **** it's at least five fucking hours," replied Eric, glancing nervously at the speed meter.

"But we have to go tonight! There won't be enough time tomorrow. They might go elsewhere and we'll lose them again."

"Yuki slow down, you are nearing a junction..."

"Promise me we will leave tonight! Fuck, you owe me Northman, all this time I had to spend with you..."

"Wait...You saying it was a nuisance for YOU?"

"You bet it was... you are not a very cooperative partner to work with..."

"I was not cooperative?! You are completely self delusional... Slow down dammit!"

"Don't worry I see it..."

In that moment she pulled the hand break and the car began to turn. She changed the gear and accelerated to complete the turn in the junction. If they were in England or Japan, there would be a fifty percent chance that it would all worked out well, but being in the US their chances dropped to zero. Yuki's manoeuvre, which ended on a wrong lane, led to a very close and sudden encounter with a huge truck. The only way to avoid it, was to drive the car off the road. And that was exactly what Yuki did.

The Corvette made a spectacular jump from the edge of the road, smashed firmly to the ground about ten meters below and rolled a couple of times before it stopped.

When Eric came round, he was still fastened to his seat with the seatbelt cutting into his skin. His neck was rather misplaced, but apart from that his body did not suffer any major damages. Yuki was thrown out of her seat and she end up with her head undignifyingly between his legs.

She slowly recovered and still dazzled from the impact she stared up at him from below.

"Found something interesting?" he smirked.

Quite embarrassed she quickly scrambled back to her seat. She had a nasty cut over her forehead from smashing into the windshield during the incident. The blood was still dripping over her face, but the wound already began to heal.

They both went out of the car and Eric took a moment to mourn over his Corvette. It was a total loss, beyond repair.

He directed his stare at Yuki, who was standing with an awkward apologetic grin on the other side of the car.

"Echehe...sorry..." she shrugged.

He ran towards her without any clear intention of what he was about to do, but she quickly zipped on the other side of what was left from the Corvette.

"Eric! Remember how you were all sorry for yesterday...well I forgive you now," she called out as he was chasing her around the car.

"You already said you forgive me if I help you with the mission...!"

He almost grabbed her, but she slipped away.

"Come on...it's just a car...it's silly to waste time over such trivial matter."

"I warned you...but you went ahead and destroyed my car because you are so fucking stubborn and you always think you know better!"

"You saw it too...that truck came out of nowhere, you can't blame me for that...we are lucky I'm such a good driver that I managed to avoid it..."

Eric was infuriated. He tricked her by quickly changing the direction and finally caught her by the neck.

"Eric, let me go..." she tried to wiggle out of his grip. "I saved your life last night, remember..."

"How many times do you plan to use this line? And don't think I feel like I owe you something... it was you and Fujiwara that got me entangled in your little games..."

Her green eyes stared at him in disbelief. "How about we forget this little issue with the car and you help me to find Russell's men and then we are even?"

Eric was still holding her strongly, glaring at her but at the end he released her.

"Fine! Let it be for this time. But you will pay me back for the car...somehow..."he added.

She nodded and adjusted her torn jacket full of blood stains.

"Fangtasia is not far anymore. Follow me and try to keep up..."

She picked up her sword, which fell out the car during the incident, and replied wittily: "That shouldn't be a problem..."

* * *

><p>"So your source confirmed he saw them today in ****?"<p>

"Yes. A group of unusual individuals as he put it. They were very discreet, but in a small town like that hardly anything goes unnoticed."

"How many of them?"

"About five or so. A couple of foreign vamps and few local weres. They rented a deserted barn and paid a fortune for it."

"It must be them. Vamps and weres together, this bears Russell's mark. Good job Pam! Reserve us a room there for tonight."

"For tonight? Eric, don't tell me you are planning to leave now...Do you know how far it is?"

"We have enough time. I'll take Lafayette with me. We'll need a reliable day man. Tell him to get ready."

Pam nodded and with an apprising glance swept over Eric and Yuki.

"Shit Eric, every time you return from Fujiwara you look worse."

"And I always have to thank Yuki for that..." he replied annoyingly. "I'll go to change and try to find something for Yuki as well...she can't walk around like that."

Yuki jumped from the chair and said simpering:"That's fine, it's not needed, really..."

Pam chuckled and said: "Come Yuki, don't be shy. I'm sure we can find something suitable for you." She didn't say or show it in any way, but she was glad that Yuki came back with Eric.

* * *

><p>Eric went down to his vault, changed his clothes and took the sword. It was still early in the evening, but there were already few guests at the bar so he decided to wait for Yuki and Lafayette by the back exit.<p>

Yuki came first down the hall. She was dressed pretty much the same as before, with her old boots, a simple black jacket and a new pair of black jeans. The only visible change was a tight black t-shirt with a rather deep décolleté, obviously Pam's. With her sword over her back, her outfit matched more or less Eric's.

"Shit, you two look like some creepy diametrically opposed twins..."said Lafayette when he saw them standing next to each other.

"I suggested Yuki to try something different. There were many better options in my wardrobe, but she went for the most boring ones," commented Pam as she approached them from the hall as well.

"Pam, what do you think you are doing?"asked Eric upon noticing she was all dressed up and carrying a small overnight case.

"I reserved the hotel dear... for the four of us."

"Pam..."

"Ginger can take care of the club for a couple of days and you know better than trying to persuade me otherwise..."she replied calmly and strolled past him towards the back door.

* * *

><p>"You want to go with MY car?" asked Lafayette again in disbelief.<p>

Eric nodded.

"But Eric...surely you don't expect us to drive in that thing?" said Pam, hoping he was only joking.

"Thanks to Yuki, we have no other choice," replied Eric.

"Whaaat do you mean by that? Don't tell me something happened to my Corvette?" asked Lafayette startled.

"There is no more Corvette, Lafayette! Now go and get your car!"

"Cool! We are going with Mini!" Yuki clapped her hands in excitement but stopped immediately after receiving accusatory glances from all the three of them.

Lafayette sullenly left to get his new car. His hope that one day Eric will return him the Corvette, for he still considered it his, was now gone.

Quite some time later the memories on his beautiful but now forever lost Corvette accompanied with heavy cursing, still persisted on Lafayette's mind as he drove the little blue Mini down the road.

Next to him, Eric was sitting comfortably on the passenger's seat, which he purposely pushed back as far as possible, so that Yuki, who was sitting behind him, could barely accommodate her legs.

Pam, also on the back seat, was constantly changing her position, trying to gain more space.

Yuki was suspiciously quiet and did not complain, which Eric ascribed to her feeling guilty over the accident but mostly because she needed him for the mission.

As they stopped at the red light on a completely deserted crossing, however, her patience ran out.

"There is nobody here," she noted.

"It's a red light," responded Lafayette.

"But there is no one here, or a mile away..."

"It's still a red light!"

"Eric, let me drive..."

"I won't even bother to respond to that..."said Eric dismissively.

"We are running out of time, we need to go faster..."she insisted.

"We are doing just fine..." he responded.

Finally the light turned green and they proceeded.

"You could drive a bit faster, Lafayette..." complained Yuki again after a while.

"Don't listen to her and drive at your own pace Lafayette..." responded Eric immediately.

Lafayette exhaled deeply and decided to side with his Boss. He felt like he was sitting on a time bomb.

"Fuck Eric, I know you are not a slow driver either...you are doing this just to spite me...its childish..."

"Whatever you say Yuki," said Eric and pressed with all his weight into the seat against Yuki's legs.

She angrily tried to push the seat forward, but to no avail.

"We can't afford to be late...you know that...how far is it still?"

"You asked ten minutes ago..."

"Does contradicting me give you some sort of a hard on?"

"Don't flatter yourself...Do you see now Pam what I meant?"

Pam rolled her eyes.

"Heh, from what I remember I didn't have to do much..."continued Yuki.

"You mean when I was drunk or at the time of my complete physical exhaustion...wouldn't take much pride in that..."

"I know you feel threaten by my physical and intellectual superiority, but I always hoped you are old enough to deal with this kind of issues...seems I was wrong."

"I'm old enough to see through you and your fears you are trying so desperately to hide…."

"Is that so….and what exactly am I afraid of?"

"You delude yourself you are free to make your own choices, that you chose to serve. But the fact is you didn't choose, you need to serve somebody. Without it, without all those ritualistic codes, you so carefully respect, your existence would have no purpose and you would be consumed by the emptiness that resides inside you."

He turned to her with a malicious sardonic smile. "And you feel the need to prove yourself superior over me, because deep down you envy my freedom. You envy me that I don't need any of this bullshit to satisfy my existence."

Yuki went quiet for a moment and then responded sharply: "It is easy to satisfy your existence when you have such shallow aspirations."

"As if you were fighting for some noble cause….you don't even know what you are fighting for..."

"Certainly not for some human weakling..." said Yuki disparagingly.

"Leave Sookie out of it..." replied Eric in an angrier tone.

"Aren't you a bit too touchy about it...I mean considering how much you boasted about your freedom just a minute ago..."

"Fuck, just shut the fuck up you two!" cried out Pam. She was hardly expecting such an uncomfortable ride. _Too bad vampires can't fly, it would make travelling much more pleasant, _she thought with regret.

Lafayette was beginning to feel claustrophobic stuck in the small car with three fairly nervous vampires and started to drive faster.

The ride went on pretty much the same. Every time Eric said something Yuki contradicted him and vice versa. They were pretty nasty and sarcastic to each other and only on occasional intervention from Pam they shut up.

Lafayette practically sprang out of the car when they arrived in front of the local Inn somewhere in south eastern Oklahoma.

Pam glad as well that the ride ended, adjusted her clothes and looked around. It was late into the night and the surroundings was quiet. The air smelled swampy and all she could hear were occasional animal sounds coming from some undeterminable direction.

"What the fuck can be so interesting in Oklahoma?" she asked promptly.

"That's what we are going to find out soon," replied Eric and winked at her conspiringly.

* * *

><p><strong>You are most welcome to review and thank you for all the comments so far!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

19.

»I sincerely hope you reserved four separate rooms for us?« asked Pam, as she was given two sets of keys at the reception desk.

The discontented expression on her face was an obvious indication to a young pale receptionist of the small Inn in **** that the question was merely rhetorical and that the vampire lady who posed it, was definitely not the type of a guest that would show some flexibility when her demands were not met.

"I apologize Missis... echm Miss," the receptionist quickly changed his words when Pam's face grew even gloomier. "...but you ordered four beds and we assumed.."

"You assumed?" her raised eyebrow was now threatening.

"You made a reservation on such short notice that...well...currently we have some shortage of rooms..."he rushed to explain, growing paler every second. "Just a second Miss, I'll call the owners..."

Before Pam tapped with her fingers twice on the desk, the young receptionist was replaced by a couple of two rather old looking vampires, who were trying to give the impression of a warm welcome with exaggerated smiles on their faces, which sadly had quite the opposite effect. To Pam's horror, the couple was dressed in "Gone with the wind" fashion, which was possibly the least flattering fashion that the couple could choose for their physical appearance.

The man spoke first: "Madam, we are Mr. and Mrs. Butterfield, the owners of this small but homey Inn and we are delighted to welcome you. I understand there has been some misunderstanding in reservations..."

Just as Pam wanted to respond to the wanna be Rhett Butler, the overweight Scarlett O'Hara with way too much makeup continued: "We are a family run hotel, and currently we do not have many rooms free..."

"You mean guests actually come to ****?" asked Pam cynically.

"Oh yes," continued Rhett. "Quite some at this time of the year..."

"Therefore, Madam," immediately interjected Scarlet, "I must inform you that unfortunately we have only two rooms left for our vampire guests, with double beds, of course."

"They are quite comfortable I assure you," added Rhett and they both flashed their creepy smiles again.

Pam was slightly confused by being addressed so quickly in turns by the odd couple, but with their ridiculous appearance she could hardly stay angry. "We have one human with us, " she said calmly.

"Oh, in this case...plenty of rooms for humans are free upstairs!" exclaimed fat Scarlet.

"It's only the rooms for vampire guests that are all taken," joined in Rhett again.

"Fine," resigned Pam. "Then give me one room for the human upstairs and the other two rooms. I hope I can expect at least some refreshments for all the nuisance?"

The couple looked at each other and Scarlet quickly responded: "Of course, our human staff will be at your disposal."

"Which type of blood would you prefer?"asked Rhett.

"The blond type..." replied Pam, suggestively looking towards the tall blond girl, dusting the furniture in the reception hall.

"I see," said Scarlet and grinned. "Just let us know when and she will be sent to your room."

"What's up, Pam? What's taking you so long?" asked Eric approaching the reception desk.

He too took a prolonged look at the strange old couple behind the desk, greeting him with a large smile. _Must be a local thing_, he thought to himself.

"Nothing, just some minor issues with registration. Here is your key," replied Pam, without going too much into details. "And here is yours, Lafayette..."

"After such a ride, I wouldn't mind to sleep in a coffin to be away from ya all..."

"No need Lafayette, you get the room upstairs, reserved only for humans... and make sure you lock the door well..." said Pam smirking.

The comment made Lafayette uncomfortable and he began to question his initial intent to get some good sleep before dawn.

"Ok, I'll be going to my room ..."said Pam, flirtatiously glancing toward the blond cleaner.

Eric's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"I know it's late Pam, but I need you to go to your contact and get all the necessary information."

"Really? Now?"

"Now!"

He waved bye to her with his keys.

"Fine..." she grumbled.

Eric smiled at her sulking face and walked towards the stairs leading to the basement rooms.

"One would think I would get a night off after suffering a ride in a fucking mini, but no…" Pam muttered discontentedly and almost bumped into Yuki at the entrance door.

"Hey Pam, did we get the rooms?" Yuki asked enthusiastically.

"Well, the thing is..." began Pam to explain but then she just smirked and said: "Sure dear, wait here!"

She walked back to the reception desk, and in a low but commanding voice said to the pale receptionist who just returned to his post: "I need a spare key for room 22."

"Miss, I apologize but we give only one key per room," he objected with trembling voice, but stopped talking as soon as Pam's glamouring eyes met his. Half-conscious he passed her the keys willingly.

"Here you are Yuki...what do you plan to do tonight?" asked Pam as she gave her the keys.

"To find Eric and then go to look for Russell's men."

"You two should wait till I return..."said Pam smirking mysteriously and disappeared out in the night.

Yuki shrugged and continued toward the basement in search of her room.

* * *

><p>After a quick glance at the modest but neat room, Eric returned to the hall and quickly examined the whole hotel. Solid wooden structure with kitschy ornaments of all kinds was exactly what he expected an Inn in the small town of Oklahoma to be like. He briefly visited the outside courtyard and checked the quickest ways to get in and out of the Inn.<p>

The Inn itself stood slightly isolated at the end of the road that led towards a more lively and busy neighbourhood, which could be seen some few hundred meters down the road. It seemed this was the main road that ran through the small town and one needed just a short walk to reach the center of the town. By the particular smell in the air, Eric estimated that the swamps must be nearby.

When he returned to the lobby he spotted a couple of young vampires that were about to go out, and few human servants performing their chores. A tall human blonde among them caught his eye, but he soon discarded the idea of indulging in certain pleasures. There were but a couple of hours left till dawn and his mind was too much preoccupied with the mission. A lot of things were at stake, and that was besides his survival. A flashy old vampire lady raised a bottle of Tru Blood towards him as he passed the bar, shamelessly seeking company, but he dully dismissed her with a waving gesture of his hand. The last thing he wanted to do was to get involved with some vampires.

As he entered the room a strange sensation made him turn immediately and he find himself staring into Yuki's inquisitive green eyes.

He gave her a complacent look, threw his jacket on the small chair and lay down on the large bed, stretching his hands behind his head.

Yuki was standing there, looking at him in silence.

He rolled his eyes and asked annoyingly: "Ok, what is that you want now?"

"Shouldn't we go? To check out the barn?"

"I sent Pam to gather all the necessary information. We will continue tomorrow."

"But..."

"I won't be as foolish as to walk into a barn full of enemies. Besides, there is not much time left before the sunrise. Don't worry...you'll get your mission accomplished."

Yuki put on a pouting face but seeing it had no effect on Eric she reluctantly agreed: "Fine, be it your way."

She took off her jacket and placed it over the chair next to Eric's. Eric followed her with a wary stare as she approached the bed. Without a word she lay besides him. He sat up immediately.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to sleep..."

"In my room?"

"It's my room too." She took the room keys from her pocket and waved with them in front of his face.

Eric closed his eyes and cursed to himself. _Shit... Pam!_

Yuki was staring blankly at the ceiling, lying immovable on her back besides him. She assumed classical corpse position with her hands crossed in front.

"Really? You are going to sleep like this?"

"Mind your own business..."

Although the bed was quite large and there was enough space for both of them, Eric felt rather uneasy. He turned to the side, then on his back again and kept glancing at the sleeping corpse besides him.

Finally, he stood up, took his sword and left the room. He went outside on the small patio at the back of the Inn. There was still sometime left before the sun rise so he took the sword out of the scabbard and made few cuts.

"Having trouble sleeping?" he suddenly heard Yuki's soft voice behind him.

He looked at her and smirked. "Do you?"

"You are preoccupied..."she said seriously.

Eric sighed. "Fujiwara...he is right, about our, or rather my performance last time."

"Was he?"

Eric held up the sword and stared at it. "I'm not sure I should continue using it..."

"What do you mean?"

"All those fancy sword techniques...it's just not for me...they don't work in the real battle."

She smiled and her eyes sparkled. "Do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"It's because you still think of the sword as a tool. Only when it becomes truly a part of you, it can be used to your advantage."

Eric looked at Yuki. The way she spoke, instantly reminded him on Fujiwara.

"With the sword you can kill faster and more efficiently. You can keep your enemy at distance and you can protect yourself better. You can handle more opponents than with bare hands. But...you need to fight with it, as if you had no sword...the moment you become aware of it, you will become slow and clumsy...you understand?"

He continued staring at her.

"We, the Japanese, believe that each sword has its own soul. The soul of the warrior and the soul of the sword he is wielding, have to connect in order to be efficient."

Eric was more observing her than listening to her words. She spoke softly but with determination. She appeared unusually mature and her green eyes were staring back at him, as if she wanted to reassure him that he had nothing to worry about. After she finished talking, there was a prolonged moment of silence between them. They were both looking at each other and none of them wanted to break off.

"You know," he finally said, "it will be probably much harder than last time. There will be more of them."

"So? There will be also more of us..."

"If you mean Pam, forget it. I don't want to involve her..."

"We'll just have to play it smart then... if we work well together...you know, set some egos aside..." She smiled.

"Which surely won't be a problem," he replied sarcastically.

"I'll have your back, don't worry..." she grinned and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. As she touched him, her playful expression suddenly changed into a serious one and Eric noticed that her hand remained on his shoulder. Without thinking too much he placed his hand on top of hers and pressed gently.

He felt her growing discomfort, but she did not remove her hand. This was an opportunity, a moment he could take advantage of. He thought of his plan to lure her on his side. He already gave up on it, after there were several occasions on which he would simply prefer to strangle her, just to enjoy the act, regardless of the fact that strangling a vampire was a somewhat futile attempt. But now, he finally sensed a real opening in her defence. Yet, he didn't do anything. He simply could not corrupt such sincere moment.

"Yuki, in case..."

"I won't have that..."

"Have what?"

"That "in case something happened or goes wrong" talk..."

"What I wanted to say..."

"I said I'll have your back. Just have mine, and we'll be okay..." She removed her hand. The moment was gone and her eyes were now beaming with energy.

It was not that he was worried about himself. It was not that at all. He was worried for her. She was eager, too eager…. for the battle. He knew she would rather die than fail.

"Just don't do something stupid, ok? I'd like to keep you as a training partner for a little longer."

She smiled at him, waved off his worries and disappeared inside the Inn.

"You are not as bad as I thought..." he said out loud, although he was the only one to hear his words.

* * *

><p>Eric woke up at exactly at the same time as Yuki. She was lying on her back but her head was turned towards his direction so that their eyes met, when they awoke. His right arm was placed over her in a protective way, as if by chance. He did that on purpose when he returned last night and she was already sleeping. He was curious for her reaction. She stared at him for a second and then as quickly as he removed his arm she stood up from the bed.<p>

An awkward silence followed and when he wanted to say something they spoke both at the same time.

"So did you sleep..."

"We should go..."Yuki cut him short.

Eric simply nodded and they both left the room rather quickly.

* * *

><p>Lafayette and Pam were already sitting in the lobby when Yuki and Eric joined them. Lafayette was busy eating his dinner, while Pam was talking on the phone.<p>

"So you two lovebirds finally awaken. Was the bed big enough?" asked Pam giggling through her teeth.

"Why wouldn't it be?" frowned Yuki.

"Very amusing, Pam. Now, have you done anything useful last night besides playing your little games of intrigue?"

"Don't be so humourless, Eric. And yes, I went to see my contact last night. There were no new developments until now. I just spoke to him on the phone and apparently the group left. The barn is empty. He doesn't know their current whereabouts."

"Shit!" exclaimed Yuki.

"Calm down, Yuki," said Eric, and sat leisurely on the dark kitschy sofa. "Lafayette, how was your day?"

Lafayette had his mouth full with a greasy sandwich, when he suddenly noticed three pairs of probing vampire eyes staring at him. He stopped eating and put his food on the plate.

"Shit, can't a man eat in peace..." he complained while wiping off the grease from his mouth.

"We don't exactly have time Lafayette," said Eric calmly while Yuki intensified her stare on him.

Lafayette rolled his eyes and sighted. "I went to check out the barn. I was there all day, but I was able to observe it only from afar. There were quite a number of people, that is if they were people, coming in and out of it. They were loading stuff on their vans."

"What stuff?" asked Eric.

"How the fuck should I know?"

Eric narrowed his eyes.

"Mmm…there were some boxes and cases….And yes, they also loaded some big motherfucking object they all seem to care about much…..it was all covered and there was always somebody around it, keeping a watch."

"How many were they?" asked Eric sharply.

"At least a dozen...but probably more."

"I see..." said Eric. His face became thoughtful.

Lafayette almost got back to his sandwich, when he noticed that his three companions were still fully focused on him.

"Towards the evening most of them left the barn. I followed one of the groups. They settled in the pub not far from here and were still there when I left the place, which was about fifteen minutes ago," he continued and took a large bite from his sandwich.

"And you say this now?" hissed Yuki in his face, causing Lafayette to choke on the piece of food he just swallowed.

"Fuck! Fuck!" shouted Lafayette.

"Which bar? Lead us to it immediately!" Yuki grabbed him by the collar.

"YUKI! Let Lafayette go!" Eric's authoritative voice was convincing enough. She released him with a warning glare.

"It's right down the street, bikers like bar...called The Grey wolf. You don't need me to find it," uttered Lafayette, still gasping for air.

"Ok then..." said Eric and stood up. "Pam, you stay here and let us know if your contact has any news. Meanwhile, I and Yuki will check out the local pub."

"But Eric, what exactly is your plane...to just walk into a weres' den?" worried Pam.

"Well, we'll pretend we are a couple of tourists, going out in this nice little town to have some fun...right Yuki?" said Eric raising his eyebrow seductively at Yuki.

Yuki nodded impatiently.

Suddenly he placed his hand around her shoulders and pushed her closer to him.

"If we don't want to be spotted too soon, we need to be convincing," he threw her a charming smile and grabbed her firmer.

"That… will be impossible..." said Yuki evidently embarrassed.

"Oh dear, just let yourself go a bit...you won't regret it," Pam winked at her impishly.

* * *

><p>"Yuki!...YUKI! Did you even hear what I asked? " Impatience reflected in Eric's voice. He took a sip of Tru Blood and grimaced. He ordered a bottle just to blend in.<p>

"What?" replied Yuki annoyingly.

"You are flirting with that Indian..."

"You mean, that one over there?" Yuki smiled and directed a flirty stare towards a young native American, with long black hair.

The Grey Wolf proved to be, contrary to Eric's expectations, an unusually open pub. Its clientele was a colourful mix of werewolves, humans, vampires and even a couple of shifters, and those were just the species he could recognize. He and Yuki were leaning on a small table near the entrance to the pub, keeping an eye on the group of werewolves inside. Eric spotted them soon after their arrival. It was five of them sitting at the table, sipping the beer quietly. They kept to themselves, not interacting with anyone in the lively pub. The eyes of four of them were focused on the one that looked foreigner and judging by their serious expressions it was quite obvious that to have fun was not their purpose of visiting the pub. Not wanting to expose himself, Eric remained with Yuki outside, from where he could observe the group well and was waiting for them to make a move. Sometime during their stake out, the table next to them was taken by a group of local Indians. One of them, the youngest and the most handsome one, was now shamelessly flirting with Yuki, and she was clearly enjoying the attention.

"So what did you ask?" Yuki's green eyes were focused back on him.

He hesitated for a moment but then finally spoke: "Have you ever heard of a mirror?"

"Mirror?" She blinked her eyes a couple of times.

"Yes mirror..." Eric wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mention it to Yuki, but he needed to know more.

"What are you implying? That I don't use mirrors?" she replied in a rather offended tone and instinctively adjusted her pony tail.

Eric sighted deeply. "No...that's not what I meant, you idiot….. You never heard of any mirror as an important or historical object? Maybe your master mentioned it?"

"Hmmm...no...I mean perhaps… no..." her stare became distant again and her face sank in an expression of deep contemplation.

"So?"

"Well, now that you say it like this…. the only mirror I know that is of some importance it's the one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan..." she said and zoomed out again.

"And? " asked Eric eagerly.

"And what...do you really want to talk about history now? So many more interesting things going on..." Her eyes returned to the young Indian.

"So much for your control..."

"What...what are you talking about? Oh, I see…it's probably just incomprehensible for you that something or somebody else attracted my interest, while graced with your oh so precious company..." she said smirking.

He shrugged disdainfully.

"I don't give a fuck what local specialities you want to try out in your free time, but I would like that you stay alert if I'm already risking my life to help you out with some ridiculous mission."

"You have a stake in it too, don't pretend you don't care...you really must think I'm a complete idiot. To kill Russell is as much beneficial to you as it is to us."

"Just pay attention, would you..."

"That's exactly what I'm doing! In case you haven't noticed, the Indian you say I'm flirting with and his two companions, are following us..."

Eric leaned to the side to get a better view of the group. This time he examined them more carefully. The young Indian was accompanied by two men, one slightly older and strongly built and the second one looking like an old wise Indian chief. These two men did not seem as naive and foolish as the young one glancing at Yuki. The old Indian immediately noticed his interest and with a smile raised a bottle of Tru Blood at him. The three of them were vampires.

_Fuck, how could I missed that_, cursed Eric angrily at himself.

"The young one...he is like me..."

"What do you mean by that?"

Yuki did not answer and kept smiling at the group.

"Why would they follow us?"

"I don't know...can you hear them talking?"

Eric listened for a while. They were not speaking much and they were whispering.

"Yes, but I can hardly understand...they speak Cherokee."

"A what?"

"They are from the Cherokee tribe..."

"How do you know that?" she looked at him curiously.

"It's a long story...me and Godric, my maker, used to visit these parts in the past. He was fascinated by their culture...and myself..well..."

"Oh, let me guess...by women?"

"Some were really very beautiful. Unfortunately their fellow tribesmen did not appreciate my interest in them very much..."

"I wonder how that ended..."

"Let's just say I was...I was deemed persona non grata..."

"Haha...I thought they are following us in connection with the mission, but perhaps it's out of personal revenge?"

"No...I didn't do anything that grave, and it was long time ago...if they really are following us..."

"They are...I'm never mistaken in these things..."

"Well, then it must be mission connected..."

"But why? What would be their interest in all this?"

Eric's face became thoughtful. "I wonder that too..."

"Perhaps we should just ask them?" suggested Yuki.

"Not yet. Tell me, do you know anything about the person Fujiwara was talking about….the one that is held by Russell's men?"

"I know as much as you do. They have a prisoner and we need to save him."

"Or her..."

"Or her."

At that moment the group of werewolves stood up from the table and speedily walked out of the pub, towards the parking space. Eric left some money on the table and gave Yuki a sign to go. The werewolves already jumped in their car and drove off.

Eric and Yuki remained behind.

"Let's follow them…. quickly!" said Yuki eagerly.

"Yes, but by foot. The mini would be just too obvious, and we don't have time to waste…we can easily catch up with them if we hurry a bit…"

"Agreed!" she replied and immediately zipped down the road.

"Fuck wait!" shouted Eric, but she was already quite far. He rolled his eyes and followed. It did not escape his attention that the group of Cherokees paid their bill as well.

* * *

><p>Eric finally caught up with Yuki. She was standing at the edge of a swamp forest.<p>

"They went inside, they left the car over there…."

"So what are we waiting for?"

She grinned and said: "Nothing, I was waiting for you. You'd probably get lost by yourself in this forest. "

"Yeah, right. Where did they enter?"

"There," she pointed with her finger.

"Ok then. Give me my sword."

Yuki carried both swords in a bag strapped over her back. She opened it and passed the sword to Eric. She took out hers as well and tied it on her back.

They proceeded inside the forest. It was certainly not a pleasant place to be in the middle of the night. The air was dense and there was a bad smell coming from the swampy ground and vegetation. The trees reached very high and their crowns were interwoven thickly completely preventing any moon light to shine through.

Eric tried to search for any clues of where the werewolves might have gone, but he couldn't find any.

_They probably changed their form and moved through the forest much easier and faster than us_, he figured.

After a while he had to admit he was lost. He stopped with Yuki right behind him. She was waiting for him to decide where to go next. He cursed in his mind, but had no choice, he had to ask Yuki for help.

"So….. do you have any idea where did they go next?"

Yuki took a minute to gloat, and then zipped around him, examining the ground, few trees and bushes, and, in no time, pointed her finger in a certain direction and uttered with confidence: "That way!"

Eric eyed her in disbelief. " Are you sure?"

"100 percent!"

"Ok, then...ladies first..."

"Oh, so I'm a lady now?"

"Just shut up and lead!"

Yuki chuckled and they proceeded.

From time to time Yuki stopped, quietly observed the surroundings, sometimes examined the ground and then continued. Eric was following her closely, marvelling to himself about her tracking abilities.

_Must be as well part of her human upbringing_, he thought, remembering what Fujiwara told him about her past.

At certain point she slowed down. The forest vegetation and trees grew denser and it seemed that even for Yuki became harder to follow any clues. They arrived into a small clearing, which was unobstructed by high tops of the trees, and thus illuminated by the dim light of the moon.

Yuki stopped again and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She stayed like this longer than usual and Eric was about to ask her what next, when suddenly high above them he heard a cry of a bird. He looked up and saw to his surprise an eagle flying over the small clearing. The eagle made few circles above them and then disappeared into the night. Yuki was looking at the bird as well. She smiled and immediately gestured Eric to follow her as if she just came across another clue.

Eric had no idea what determined her decisions which direction to go, but he found himself trusting her and he followed without any objections.

Yuki was now moving faster through the swamp, almost without stopping. Eric was always close behind. His eyes were resting at her long white neck, over which her pony tail was swinging left and right like a pendulum, gently brushing the hilt of the sword, firmly attached on her back. For some reason he thought of their first meeting on the hill. She certainly impressed him, even though the initial fascination very quickly turned into a mutual aversion. She just had this natural ability to drive him over the edge easily. Yet, if he thought about it sincerely, it was something that he secretly appreciated. There were not many things left in this world that could stir up such a colourful palette of emotions in him in such a short time. He smiled inside remembering few of the peculiar adventures he got involved in with her. But now he could understand her better. She never had any choice, neither did he. They both get entangled into this absurd play, directed by Fujiwara. Perhaps if they met under different circumstances…There was a certain connection he felt with this strange woman, a connection that always stayed obscured due to their antagonistic characters, but he realized in that moment, following her to a deadly mission, that it was a connection for which he would be willing to give up much more than he dared to admit. The thought scared him as much as it empowered him for whatever was about to follow. He worried. He didn't want it to be their last mission. He cared. And for the things he cared about, he would do anything.

"Shit..."Yuki cursed silently.

Some fifty meters ahead of them there was another plain.

"What is it?" he whispered at her ear.

She did not move. He saw her hand going towards the hilt of her sword.

"Are you ready?" She turned and her eyes stared at him calmly.

Then he felt it too. _The weres! _

Nothing was heard, no movements, no sounds, that would alert them to the presence of another being. But Eric knew that this complete silence was like the quiet moment before a devastating storm. Yuki already unsheathed her sword and he placed his hand on the hilt of his. He felt ready. He felt in charge this time.

Finally it happened. It was as if the forest suddenly came alive and he saw beasts springing from all sides. He glanced one more time in Yuki's calm but deadly eyes. Then, in one movement he unsheathed his sword, threw the scabbard away and impaled the first beast that jumped towards them.

Hell arose around them. Bands of local and foreign werewolves were coming on to them from all directions. Eric did not care, he cut them down ruthlessly. He felt like he is cutting through them with all his body even though he used the sword. He constantly kept an eye on Yuki. Her movements were elegant as always, precise and deadly. He noticed she wanted to break through the line of werewolves that were blocking the way to the plain. They seemed to be particularly concerned with that line of defence and they concentrated their numbers around Yuki. She was fighting them off, but he sensed she will soon be in trouble if their numbers continue to increase. Her persistence to break through to the plain attracted more werewolves on her than on him.

When they completely surrounded her, he came to her rescue. He began fighting with them, trying to get closer to Yuki. He could hear shouts and the sound of car engines coming from the plain still obscured by trees and bushes. He pressed harder and slashed through a number of werewolves. He was covered in blood of the enemy as well as his, pouring out from several bites on his body. But he was healing fast and his eagerness to kill surpassed any physical pain.

He finally made his way to Yuki. There was a crazed determination in her eyes. All he needed was this eye contact and he knew what to do. From then on it was easy. They complemented each other so perfectly and effortlessly in fighting off the attackers, that they broke through the line of defence to the open plain in no time, leaving dozens of dead werewolves behind.

In the cover of the swamp forest a couple of vans and few motorbikes were parked throughout the plain. Another jeep just drove in from a dirt road on the other side of it. As soon as the newcomers stepped out of the car, Eric immediately recognized one of them. The dark eyes of the vampire in scarf were now staring at him from across the plain. He was surrounded by his black beasts, but time his eyes did not reflect such a serenity and confidence as at their last encounter. There was agitation and anger in them.

Eric sprang towards him, but three vampires blocked his way. There were at least a dozen vampires spread around that little plain and they were all strongly built mercenaries. As if this was not sufficient, the werewolves were slowly reappearing from the darkness of the woods. He already killed quite a number of them, but there were more left than he expected.

The vampires were armed with all kinds of nasty cold weapons.

_Must be the habits from their old army times_, thought Eric, looking with concern at a range of blades, varying from machetes, knives, axes to other more exotic shapes. It was no surprise that with AVL's strict control over anti-vampire fire arms, killers like this would turn to these kind of weapons. Eric suddenly felt grateful for the sword he had in his hand. He also realized they were in trouble. It seemed impossible to overcome them all. He glanced at Yuki. She was standing next to him, observing the situation as well. She didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that they were heavily outnumbered. Perhaps, Eric thought, she was not aware of it or, which is more likely, she simply didn't care.

The vampires in front of them were grinning maliciously, confident that their pray will be easy to handle. As they took their time, Eric followed every movement of the vampire in the scarf. Accompanied by his wolves and a couple of other vampires, he hurried towards one of the parked vans. On his sign the black beasts changed into a human form and began to unload a large covered object on the back of the van. They tried to transport it to another car, but the object seemed very heavy and they had difficulties holding it. The other two vampires came to their help and they all carried it towards the jeep, with which they just arrived.

Eric sensed an opportunity and tried to reach them before they got to the car, but the three vampires in front of him finally decided to attack and swung their weapons at him. Eric repelled all the attacks and killed one of them by cutting his head off.

Yuki immediately understood what he was trying to do and came to his assistance, but a number of werewolves surrounded her and she had her hands full with them.

The vampires were angered by the death of their companion and pressed on Eric with all their might. He managed to cut down another one, but soon other vampires joined in. In the midst of this blood bath he caught Yuki's stare. With a small nod she assured him that everything was fine, even when it was obvious that the situation was turning to the worse with every second.

_How much more will they be able to last like this?_

He tried to signal her a retreat, but she just smiled at him. For Yuki such a move was clearly out of the question. He smiled back at her. He already knew he was not going to leave without her.

In that same instant he felt a sharp pain on his back. Something was pulling him backwards, ripping his spine out. He tried franticly to turn around but he couldn't. Something kept pulling him back. The blood splashed out of his mouth and his vision was worsening. He was going to faint, he looked towards Yuki once again but could not see her. Just as his eyes were about to close, whatever was pulling him from behind, released him and he fell forward on his knees and arms. He spit out some more blood and tried to touch his back, but it was too painful for him to reach.

He managed to turn around and saw one of the vampires engaging in an intense fight with Yuki. One of his hands was cut off from the elbow, but his other hand was still holding a sickle like weapon, with which he was swinging dangerously close at Yuki. She was evading his strikes with agility, jumping around and managed to give the vampire a cut with her sword each time he missed her with his sickle. The vampire was quickly losing his strength as he was bleeding from the numerous sword inflicted wounds. It was a deadly game that Yuki was clearly dominating.

Eric saw another vampire approaching. He managed to get on his feet and block his way towards Yuki and his colleague. Other vampires and werewolves began to gather around them.

The vampire facing Eric had a kukri in his hand and he appeared very determined to use it. Eric raised his sword, trying to keep him at distance. His was still very weak from the injury on his back and his legs were shaking from effort. The vampire smiled eagerly. He smelled his weakness. He easily closed the distance and was about to throw himself on Eric when suddenly a whistling sound was heard and he burst into pieces practically in Eric's arms. Another whistling sound was heard and the vampire, whose head was just about to be cut off by Yuki, burst into pieces as well. Both covered in the remains of their opponents Eric and Yuki looked at each other with bewilderment.

The beasts around them got agitated and directed their attention towards the other end of the plain. On its edge, partially obscured by the trees, Eric spotted the group of Indians they met in the pub. One of them, the youngest one, was holding a bow in his hands.

Yuki acknowledge their presence with a nod and then told Eric to remain still. She pulled out something from his back causing him a sharp pain, which almost made him collapse on his knees again.

"What the hell Yuki!"

As he turned around, she waved with a sickle in front of him. Its handle was still held by something that remotely resembled a hand and a piece of Eric's skin was attached at the end of its circular blade.

"A very nasty weapon, you should be more careful next time..." said Yuki with a wink and threw it away.

"We've got some help. Now, let's finish this off!" were her next words, just before she ran off to face the rest of opponents.

The remaining werewolves and vampires were now spread among the two of them and the group of Indians. The fight turned into a big confusion and Eric was randomly striking with his sword at who or whatever came close to him. His aim was to get to the scarfed vampire, before he escaped again. He saw him and his companions loading the covered object on the truck of the jeep. Realizing that the battle took a new course with unexpected visitors, the scarfed vampire was now frantically shouting to his companions to hurry up. An arrow shot in his direction but he easily avoided it. Another arrow shot one of his wolf men in the upper arm, but he simply broke it off and removed it. His wound began to heal immediately.

At the edge of the plain, Eric noticed the werewolves surrounded the young Indian with a bow. Suddenly the bow dropped to the ground and the Indian vanished. The next thing Eric saw was some kind of a large bird flying up to the sky. It looked like an eagle, although more like an eagle that has been dead for a while. Black feathers were unevenly covering its body with pieces of skin ripped off, on certain parts exposing a part of its skeleton. The beak was unusually large and sharp.

Eric did not lose time wondering too much about what he just saw. It was unusual, but he witnessed all kinds of weird things during his long existence. He was determined to get to the scarfed man. Another vampire appeared in front of him. As they engaged in the fight a huge beast came out of nowhere and took the vampire by his neck. The enormous beast bore the closest resemblance to a bear but just like the eagle, it looked as something that died long ago. Large patches of skin were peeled off and Eric could clearly see some ribs. The beast's jaw on one side was basically barren of any skin and was revealing a whole line of long pointed fangs. It was a gruesome creature, but Eric could sense that it came to help.

The scarfed vampire entered the jeep and tried to start the engine. Yuki reached him before Eric could get there and pulled him out of the car. They both fell down on the muddy ground. The vampire cursed loudly and took a sabre from behind his belt. Yuki charged with attack but he quite easily blocked her strike and pushed her away so that she stumbled far backwards. The two vampires that were tying down the large object at the back of the jeep, immediately came to his assistance. He left them to deal with Yuki, while he jumped back in the jeep, trying to ignite it again.

Eric finally fought his way to the car, but as soon as he approached, the scarfed man's black wolves positioned themselves in front of him. Before the beasts attacked, he saw one of the Indians sneaking up behind them. A strange forked tongue came in and out from his mouth and his eyes rapidly changed into a reptile like shape. A pair of very narrow and long fangs were exposed in his mouth as he prepared to bite into the unsuspected wolf. The Indian's face closely resembled that of a snake.

_Just when I thought things could not get any weirder_, thought Eric and continued to the car, leaving the snake man to deal with the wolves.

The scarfed vampire finally managed to start the car but no matter how hard he pressed on the gas pedal, the car would not move from its place. He nervously glanced at the side mirror and saw Eric's face. With all his strength Eric was holding down the car. Surprised, the vampire released the gas pedal for a second. In the same instant Eric appeared right in front of him, pulled him out of the car through the windshield and threw him a couple of meters away. Then he jumped on top of him, before the vampire could extract his sabre.

Faced with the scarfed vampire from such a close distance, the vision from his nightmare came alive. It was without a doubt the same vampire Eric saw in his dream. The image of Sookie being tied to an iron throne clouded momentarily his reason. He picked up the vampire and smashed him into the nearby tree with full force.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" he shouted, pressing him against the tree by his neck.

The vampire seemed to be taken aback from Eric's display of strength, but just as Eric was about to take off his scarf, his almond eyes smiled condescendingly and he kicked Eric right in the groin. Eric stumbled back in pain, while the vampire whistled to his black wolves, who immediately stopped fighting with the snake man and ran towards him. Before Eric recovered, the three of them already disappeared among the trees.

He was about to follow them when he heard Yuki shouting his name.

He turned and saw her on the ground with a much bigger vampire on the top of her. She was trying to protect herself from the huge fists punching all over her face. She lost her sword and the vampire was about to strike with his axe towards her neck. Eric immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him away from her. Yuki swiftly picked up the sickle lying near in the mud and harvested his head.

"Thanks…"she said smiling through her bloody mouth.

He offered her a hand and winked: "You need to be more careful next time!"

The small plain was turned into a real battlefield. The bear like beast just ripped the neck of another vampire while the snake man sank his narrow fangs into the second one. The vampire's skin began to turn green at the place of the bite and as the colour spread through his body, his movements were becoming slower. The snake man calmly avoided the strikes of his victim, until the vampire became completely paralyzed. Then the Indian took out his tomahawk and severed the vampire's head.

The fighting lasted until the enemy completely dispersed and the few ones that were still alive vanished in the woods.

The plain was suddenly deserted and Eric, with Yuki by his side, was watching from a safe distance how the bear, the snake man and the eagle assumed their human form. The youngest Indian quickly fetched some clothes from behind a bush and they began to dress.

Yuki said calmly to Eric: "Don't worry, they are on our side."

"I wonder, how the hell do you know that…."

"Just a hunch…" she grinned back.

Then her face became serious and she asked carefully: "You seemed to be very interested in that scarfed vampire…"

"Why do you ask? Do you know him?"

"Nope, never saw him before…"she shrugged and jumped on the truck of the jeep the scarfed man left behind. "Ummm, what do we have here...Must be something of importance considering they risked their lives for it…."

"Yuki, perhaps you leave that for later..." said Eric, looking nervously at the group of Indians approaching.

But Yuki did not seem to be concerned with them at all and her attention was now directed at the tall covered object on the back of the jeep.

"Lets' see what those motherfuckers left behind..."she said and uncovered a thick white plastic cover over the object.

Eric had to close and reopen his eyes twice to make sure that what he was seeing was real. The object completely captivated his attention and he forgot about the Indians or anything else for that matter.

A golden cage was glowing in the dim light of the night. Its shape was rounded, just like the ones used for canary birds, only that this one was of a much bigger size, appropriate for an adult human. And indeed, inside the cage, on a small chair, quietly sat a woman.

Eric, despite of his thousand years of seen and done it all, was taken aback from the strange beauty of the immovable woman in the golden cage. She was a young mulatto with long wavy hair of silver colour that were gracefully falling over her shoulders all the way down to her hips, contrasting beautifully with her slightly dark smooth skin. Her eyes were glassy blue, a colour that Eric had never seen before on any human or vampire. The strange thing about those eyes was that they were almost transparent, yet had an enormous depth. Her stare was directed at him and he was enchanted. It was like he was looking at himself from the depths of his consciousness. Her eyes were reflecting his very being. They were eyes of somebody with wisdom beyond his age, yet the woman, despite her silver hair, seemed very young, in her early twenties. And she was certainly was not a vampire.

Yuki removed the bar on the small door of the cage and the woman calmly stood up and stepped out of her golden prison. She softly jumped from the truck and adjusted her white long dress that perfectly complemented her elegant body.

"What the hell is the matter with you...you are drooling..." Yuki's jealous voice and her elbow in his ribs suddenly awaken Eric from this dream vision.

"What...?" he answered absently. The white dress of the lady looked strangely familiar. Then it suddenly hit him. It was a traditional Cherokee dress.

_Shit! The Indians! _

At the same moment the lady ran past him and threw herself into the arms of the old Indian man who embraced her heartily.

Eric heard them exchange few words in Cherokee but as soon as he came closer the two younger Indians stepped protectively in front of the woman and the old man. Eric pointed his sword towards the group.

"Would somebody care to explain what the hell is going on here?"

The Indians tensed up at his commanding tone, but the woman suddenly came forward and placed her hand on Eric's, gently lowering his sword.

"There is no need for this..." her voice was pure silk. "I'm most grateful that you came to my rescue."

Eric almost dropped the sword as her hand touched his. He wanted to say something but he just kept staring at her blue eyes.

"My name is Kiyo Solarin. I am Kagami..."

She paused, clearly expecting her words explained it all, but he had no freaking idea what was she talking about. From his puzzled expression she soon realized that too.

"Oh, I'm sorry…. I though you knew….. Kagami means…"

"Mirror...it means mirror," Yuki finished her sentence, eying Eric with intense suspicion.

* * *

><p><strong>Sincere apologies to all my readers for taking so long to update the story! I hope you still enjoy it!<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

20.

Finding himself face to face with the object or as it turned out - a person - of the utmost importance for both Russell and Fujiwara was overwhelming for Eric and left him speechless. Yuki was clearly waiting for some explanation but her accusatory eyes were now of a secondary concern to him. He had to think, and had to think fast, of what to do next.

Kiyo sighed and smiled. "I see Kansuke san keeps his subjects in the dark as usually."

"Kk…. Kansuke san?" Yuki's jaw dropped upon hearing her master's name.

Kiyo turned to Yuki and stared at her for a moment as if she was trying to size her up.

"You must be one of his acolytes. I hope you forgive me for addressing Fujiwara sama by his first name. Your master and I are on very friendly terms and sometimes I forget all the formalities of Japanese culture. I am most grateful to you too for coming to my rescue," said Kiyo and bowed deeply.

Yuki felt uncomfortable by the gesture. She cast her eyes down and muttered: "My name is Yuki Nobunaga and you don't have to thank me. I just followed Fujisama's command. Besides it's not over yet. We still have to get you to the residence."

"Your assistance in all this is greatly appreciated, but from now on we shall take care of Miss Solarin," said the Indian Chief and took Kiyo by the hand.

"I have clear instructions to bring the hostage with me and that is exactly what I will do," hissed Yuki and her eyes sparkled as she took a step forward.

"We are her guardians! She is our obligation!"

"I don't give a fuck, I have my orders and I plan to carry them out!" Yuki's fangs slid out.

"Nobody is going anywhere, until I hear some explanations!" Eric suddenly raised his voice. "I just about had it with all your pompous obedience to your whatever noble causes or masters!"

Then he turned to Kiyo and addressed her in calmer tone. "Miss Solarin, would you be kind enough to explain why were you kidnapped or perhaps – what the hell are you?"

"Mr Northman is right. I do owe him some explanations," said Kiyo and gestured her guardians to step back.

"Good! Let's start with how do you know my name?"

"Godric…..he would never stop talking about you!" She smiled.

"You knew Godric?" His voice trembled slightly.

"Yes, I knew him very well. We always had the most interesting conversations and many times he spoke of you and your adventures. I almost feel like I know you already."

Kiyo stepped closer to him and gently passed her hand over his face. "It must have been very hard for you. He was very dear to me too."

Kiyo's gentle touch felt like his mother's. His pain over Godric's death reflected in her eyes. He moved away from her. He didn't want to expose what he considered his weakness.

"Well, Miss Solarin…"

"Please feel free to call me Kiyo…"

"Thank you, but I'll stick to Miss Solarin for now. You are full of surprises and I certainly have many questions for you, which I expect to be answered."

Kiyo smiled. "I'm sure you do Mr Northman, and do not worry, I will gladly explain you everything. But before that, I would suggest we find a place to sleep. The morning is approaching, and although the sunlight is no problem for me, you and my guardians have to find shelter."

"How do I know, you won't disappear before the evening?"

"I would never leave without my guardians. Besides, I want you to know what I am and I want to talk to you about Godric. You see, contrary to Fujiwara sama, I do not believe that secrecy is always the best way. Now, would you lead us out of here?"

The old Indian Chief seemed to object and spoke to Kiyo in Cherokee.

"Is there a problem?" asked Eric.

"My guardian, Adahy, does not agree with it. He believes we should split and proceed from here on our own."

"That's absolutely out of the question. They can do whatever they want, but you Miss Solarin will stay with us until we get you to Fujiwara's house," said Yuki firmly.

"Eric, Adahy thinks you are not very reliable or trustworthy…he heard one too many rumours from his fellow tribesmen about you," said Kiyo and suddenly giggled. Then just as suddenly she reassumed a serious expression and continued: "But do not worry. I told him that as Godric's progeny, you have my complete trust, so we shall all follow you."

"That settles it then. We shouldn't waste any more time," said Eric, satisfied that things, at least for now, were going according his plan.

* * *

><p>Eric glanced at the rear view mirror. Kiyo and two of the Indians were sitting in the back seat of one of the jeeps that Russell's men left behind. After some arguing they managed to agree that they all go back to the Inn, where Eric and Yuki were staying and then return the next evening to Louisiana.<p>

Yuki was sitting squeezed between him and the young Indian in the front seat. There was an air of mistrust between the two of them and the Indians. It was clear that the Indians did not like their involvement and that they would prefer to take care of Kiyo by themselves.

Eric recognized the voice of the old Indian Chief Adahy. He was the mysterious visitor at Fujiwara's that night, and it seemed the old man did not hold the best opinion about him. But Eric was not going to let go so easily of this unexpected and precious discovery, and neither was Yuki going to let Kiyo out of her sight until she delivered her to Fujiwara.

"So what are you anyway… some kind of vampire shifters?" asked Eric while driving though the swampy forest.

"Shifters? Yeah, right. That's an insult…"responded the snake vampire with despise.

Adahy answered in a calmer voice: "It's been always part of our culture, to seek and connect with our inner animal. The fact that we were turned did not change that."

"So I suppose your inner animal is some kind of a bear?"

"That is correct, and Balik's is….."

"A snake! What exactly do you do to your victims?" asked Yuki enthusiastically.

"My poison paralyzes them...then I can do whatever I want with them."

"That's freakin awesome!" exclaimed Yuki.

"Hmm, certainly a handy advantage…. And you, you are just a bird?" turned Eric to the youngest Indian, sitting happily next to Yuki.

"An eagle…"he corrected him immediately.

"He gave us directions, when I momentarily got lost in the swamp…" said Yuki and winked at the Indian.

"Yes, that's true. Still your tracking skills are very impressive. I must admit I had an unfair advantage. This is practically my home terrain, and I had a view from above. My name is Sahen by the way, "he smiled back at her.

Yuki, pleased with the compliment, continued to chat with him for the rest of the journey. Eric wasn't really listening; his mind was preoccupied with what Kiyo had to tell him.

* * *

><p>Eric was sitting on his bed looking attentively at Kiyo who sat down on the small chair just in front of him. Last night he left her in the company of Lafayette, giving him strict instructions not to leave her out of his sight. He and the other vampires divided the two underground rooms between themselves to pass the night. Rhett and Scarlet were more than happy to accommodate the additional guests and did not make any problems. Pam was not too excited about the room sharing but having no other choice she went along with it, claiming in return Yuki's part of the bed. Purposely disregarding a proper gentleman's conduct, Eric refused to give up his part of the bed to Yuki, which resulted in the usual smack talk between the two of them, upsetting Pam to the point when she almost threw both of them out of the room. At the end, Yuki draw the short straw and had to take the floor.<p>

Kiyo came to their room as soon as the sun set and politely asked if she could speak with Eric alone. Pam and Yuki considerately left, glancing warily at Balik, who stood in the hall just outside the room.

"You have questions for me, Eric…" said Kiyo calmly.

Again her silky voice and strange transparent blue eyes made it hard for him to concentrate. He pulled himself together and asked: "Ok, let's start with the easy ones. What is the Mirror?"

"Mirrors…."her eyes departed from his and focused on some distant spot in the room, "….according to some ancient cultures, the mirrors are reflectors of the soul. I am called the mirror, because I reflect the very being of the one that looks into me. When I turned 21, I became the vessel for this special power or energy that inhabited my body. It is an enormous responsibility, for which I did not ask, but I accepted it because I had no other choice."

"You might look like 21, but I can sense you are much older…in fact you seem to be older than me…"

"I turned 21 in 1862. Since then I haven't aged. But the energy that entered my body is much older than that. I can feel it…it's beyond imaginable. All the souls that were reflected are inside of me…"

Her voice became husky with emotion.

"Miss Solarin…..Kiyo," Eric gently squeezed her hand to regain her attention, "what exactly you do with your powers?"

"I am the Mirror. I reflect everything, all the fears, feelings, experiences, memories, the deepest thoughts, conscious and subconscious. It might sound harmless, but it is a deadly power for there are not many who can bear with what they see. Most of those, who looked into me, got insane instantly or end up in committing suicide. It takes an enormous strength to face all of what you are at once."

She paused for a second, averted her eyes from Eric and then continued: "The vampires are stronger, they faced death and their predatory nature makes them less sensitive. But due to their prolonged existence and constant inner conflict between their human and vampire nature, they carry a much heavier mental baggage. The longer they are in this world, the harder is for them to bear…." Instead of finishing the sentence she looked straight into Eric's eyes.

He knew what her eyes were telling him, but he refused to accept it.

"What do you mean?" he asked, leaning slightly backwards.

"I think you know, Eric…"

His head fell down and he murmured:" No, no, no…..this cannot be….what are you saying…. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!"

Only when Balik suddenly opened the door, Eric realized he was grabbing Kiyo by her shoulders and shaking her violently.

Kiyo put up her hand for Balik not to approach. "Everything is fine, you can wait outside Balik."

Eric released her and collapsed back on the bed. Blood started to gather around his blue eyes.

"Tell me why," he said quietly.

"Godric was my best friend. He was the only one I could tell what I really am, besides my guardians. I could trust him. He was coming to visit our tribe long after you stopped, well, after you were banned by some of the elders. Our connection was immediate and for me…it was such a relief to be able to share this burden with somebody. Then one day he asked me if he can look into me. I refused of course, but he insisted every time we met afterwards. He has been around for so long, he just wanted to see what he really was. I thought…." She paused. Eric's stare made it hard for her to continue..

"He seemed so strong, I thought he will be able to bear it. But I was wrong. The void look in his eyes told me that he did not like what he saw. I tried to tell him that he had many things to hold on to, but he just smiled and thanked me. He never visited me again after that. Deep inside I already knew how it was going to end, for the Mirror sees everything. I can tell you that you were very dear to him, I think more than anything else in his life. But since always he was trying to find some sense in his existence. For a while he hoped to find it through you. But each one walks his own path and he could only walk yours for a certain time. I suppose he turned to me to find some answers, but the answer he found robbed him of all hope instead of giving him one. It was hardly a surprise when I received the news that he met the sun."

The blood was sliding down Eric's cheeks, but he felt nothing. The whole thing was just too much to take in and it made him numb. He was trying to come to terms with the fact that the person responsible for his maker's death was sitting in front of him.

"Eric, to this day I regret my decision. You have no idea how much I miss him…"

She tried to wipe his red tears but he swiftly moved away from her hand.

"I have no idea? You knew Godric only for a couple of decades! You cannot even comprehend the bond that existed between us!" he spoke loudly, almost shouting. "I could never understand his decision! And now you are saying it is your fault? Do you even understand how much I have to hold myself back from ripping your head off at this very moment!"

Despite his aggressive tone there was no fear in Kiyo's eyes. It was only sorrow. An immense sorrow.

"I knew this day would come. You are all he said you would be. I am glad I met you and had the chance to tell you this."

"Shut up! Do you think telling me will somehow release you of your guilt? I will never forgive you!"

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I learned to live with a far greater pain than you can imagine. But I know Godric never explained you. He kept my secret, you see. And while he made his own choices, I made the choice to at least try to explain you why. You are entitled to know. The fact that you, the son of Godric, came to my rescue, hardly seems a coincidence. Destiny has some freaky ways to connect the loose ends."

Eric could not stay seated anymore, his mind was racing. He stood up and began to pace around the room. Kiyo's revelation about Godric was completely unexpectable. And right now he did not know what to do with it.

He addressed her coldly: "Why are you so important to Russell and Fujiwara?"

"Kansuke, that is, Fujiwara sama, was the first one to come to me when I received the power. He explained me everything, how to use this power, what will happen to me, what will happen if I use it. He called me Kagami, which means mirror in Japanese. He was very understanding and kind to me. You see, my life up until then was not a life worthy of living. And suddenly I received all this attention and everyone treated me with such respect as if I was the most important person in the world. I was assigned guardians. Fujiwara told me that because of who I have become, I had to be protected at all times. He said there are many who would like to claim or use my power and if that happened it would have grave consequences for this world. So we moved around a lot, and I accustomed to live in this way. I learned to accept my power. Its profound and ancient wisdom reflects through me. I believe that is why Godric spotted me immediately." A vague smile appeared across her lips as the memory passed thought her mind.

"Few decades ago we came to Oklahoma. We thought it a safe place. I mean, who would think of searching for something important in Oklahoma, right?" She smiled again, trying to provoke a response in Eric.

"Go on…" His voice remained cold.

"Only recently we found out that the danger is closer than we thought and were told to take extra precautions. Obviously we were not careful enough."

"But why? Why would Russell want your power? He surely did not search all this time for you just to get some introspection…it doesn't' make any sense! There is something else."

"I don't know…I never even met Mr Edgington…."

"Fujiwara must have told you something!"

"He hasn't, I told you everything I know…"

"I don't believe you…"

"You know I speak the truth…if you want to know more you will have to ask Fujiwara. He supervises everything that concerns me."

"Fuck!"

"I know you are upset, and I also know why. But keeping me for yourself and not taking me to Fujiwara would be a grave mistake."

Eric stopped abruptly. _How did she know?_

"I also know you are doing all this to protect a human. A human you love?"

He did not respond.

"Listen to me Eric, it is very important that you take me to Fujiwara. He is the only one that can protect me now. This Edgington is very powerful and well organized. Remember the creepy golden cage you found me in – I don't know how, but he found out that the gold interferes with my powers. It means he did his research thoroughly and he won't stop now."

She stood up from the chair and walked up to him. She raised her hands, placing one on each side of his face.

"Look into my eyes Eric!"

He tried to turn away from her, but she held him quite firmly. Suddenly he found himself staring into his maker's eyes.

"Godric…"

But it was Kiyo's voice he heard: "Please Eric, for Godric's sake, trust me on this. I am being completely sincere with you. I told you everything I know. If they get to me, something terrible will happen. For once leave aside your stubbornness. Promise me you will take me to Fujiwara."

He could not object or lie to those eyes.

He removed her hands and said with a calm resignation: "I will take you to Fujiwara. I can see that that's what Godric would want me to do and that is the only reason why I agree to this. But you were right, I am doing this to save somebody very dear to me and if it comes down to choose between her or you, be damn sure that I will not hesitate for a moment. I already lost Godric because of you, I won't lose her as well."

"I understand. Thank you." Kiyo, visibly affected by his words, bowed in gratitude.

* * *

><p>"Pam, where the fuck is Yuki? We are leaving!" grumbled Eric as he came to the lobby.<p>

"Am I her nanny or something?" sharply replied Pam.

"She is with Sahen in the backyard," said Adahy with a smile and took a sip of Tru Blood.

Eric zipped right to the backyard and found Yuki wrestling the young Indian on the ground. They were laughing and obviously having fun. It only worsened his already bad mood.

"We have to go! Immediately!" He emphasised angrily the last word.

"Heey, it was you who wasted so much time in the room with the Missy. What…..it didn't go according to your plans?" said Yuki mockingly as she came closer.

Eric looked at her blankly and returned inside without a word.

"He certainly isn't very easy going, is he?" commented Sahen.

"No, he isn't…" she responded and kept staring after Eric with concern.

* * *

><p>"…and please come back anytime! We'd love to have you again!"<p>

Cheesy farewells of Scarlet and Rhett echoed in Pam's ears as she left the Inn.

_Sure we will….. when I will be walking in the daylight_, thought Pam to herself.

As she came outside she witnessed a quarrel between Yuki and the Indians. Clearly, they had to drive back with two cars and due to distrust between them, they all wanted Kiyo in their car. The arguments went back and forth until Eric stepped in firmly.

"Here is what we are going to do. Pam, you and Lafayette will drive with Balik and Sahen, while Yuki and I will take the Chief and Miss Solarin."

Yuki immediately agreed, and Adahy nodded to Balik and Sahen. Pam and Lafayette had no objections either and were quite happy that they won't have to relive again the cumbersome journey in the Mini and pointless discussions between Yuki and Eric.

Upon seeing Eric's car, Adahy shook his head: "Tstststs….this is the car you came with?"

"Don't ask …" replied Eric and avoided further explanations.

"Is this the kind of car you get when you become a Sheriff in Louisiana?" shouted Balik from his car, laughing.

Eric simply ignored him.

* * *

><p>Engrossed in thoughts, Eric hardly spoke with anyone in the car. He knew eventually Yuki will start asking him questions. He felt her focus on him since they sat in the car. To his surprise though, she managed to keep quiet for longer than he expected.<p>

"So…."she moved her head close to his ear and asked almost whispering, "want to tell me what the fuck is going on with you?"

"No," he replied shortly. He found her attempt of discreet concern amusing.

"Fine, "she leaned back into her chair.

"Why don't you explain me a little bit about the mirror then?" She spoke up, so that Adahy and Kiyo, who were sitting in the back seat, could hear her as well this time.

"Well, why don't you ask Miss Solarin directly?" replied Eric, glancing at Kiyo in the rear mirror.

"Miss Yuki, I believe this falls within your master's responsibility and I suppose he told you exactly what he thinks it is necessary for you to know. I do not want to interfere with how he handles his soldiers. I am sure you can understand that."

"Of course…" muttered Yuki and returned to stare blankly at the road ahead of them.

Eric felt sorry for her. The codes Yuki had to live by were not easy ones, in fact they were rather cruel. But right now he too felt trapped by all the unpredictable developments and was incapable to tell her what he believed she deserved to know. He had just stared into his maker's eyes and found out the cause of his death. And it was all done by this wonderful, mysterious and deadly creature, who in addition attracted enormous interest from the two most powerful vampires he ever met.

He still couldn't figure out why Russell wanted Kiyo. Her power was certainly special, but Russell invested way too much if that was all there was to it, and so did Fujiwara to protect her. It just didn't make any sense. And then there was the scarfed vampire. What was his role in all this? Their paths continue to cross dangerously again and again and there was something malicious about him, just like he felt it in the dream. This vampire was obviously in charge of bringing Kiyo to Russell and now he took her from him. Won't that piss him and Russell off even more? Did he just put Sookie in an even greater danger?

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for the comments! Much appreciated!<strong>


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